The National Oil Corporation (NOC) suspended on Friday the production of 290,000 oil barrels per day at el-Sharara oil field, southern Libya, to investigate suspected closure of valves in the Hamada area, the NOC said Saturday.
The Hamada area is located in the Northwestern Libya and is part of the Ghadames Basin, which covers an area of 135,135 square miles across Libya, Tunisia and Algeria.
The NOC has launched a full-scale investigation to know the reasons of the closure and who had caused the incident.
The NOC added that el-Feel oil field was unaffected by the closure.
A week earlier, the Fezzan Anger Movement threatened to close el-Sharara and Feel oilfields in the southern region to pressure the government into meeting the area’s basic needs.
The movement demanded the government to provide cash, fuel, and job opportunities for youth, and to establish development projects and resolve the crisis of electricity.
It would not be the first time for the Fezzan Anger Movement to close Libya’s biggest oil field with 315,000 barrels per day as groups of tribesmen, armed protesters and state guards self-proclaimed as the Fezzan Anger Movement had controlled the field on Dec. 8. They demanded salary payments and the provisions of basic needs in the south.
