02 January 2014, News Wires – Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is reportedly preparing to restart the El Sharara oilfield within days following a deal between the government and protestors.
Spokesman Mohamed al-Harari said that the Libyan state player hoped to resume production within the next three days following the agreement, according to Reuters reports.
El Sharara’s output has been shut in since the end of October.
The field, operated by NOC in a joint venture with Spain’s Repsol, has a production capacity of around 350,000 barrels per day.
El Sharara’s crude volumes are exported from the Zawiya terminal and feed the 120,000-bpd Zawiya refinery.
Earlier this week, NOC said that its Sarir and Messla oilfields were back up and running, although the Hariga port they connect with needs to reopen before exports can resume.
Libya has been pumping only around 250,000 barrels per day in recent months compared to an output of 1.4 million bpd in July before civil unrest began to disrupt flows.
A mix of militias, tribesmen and civil servants have seized most oil ports and fields to demand more political power or higher pay, costing the north African OPEC member an estimated $7 billion in lost revenues.
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