The shutdown of production from oil fields in Libya is growing today, as production from the Sarir field has almost completely stopped. This was explained to Reuters by two oil facility engineers familiar with the situation, BTA reports.
The government that rules eastern Libya, where most of the oil wells are located, announced on Monday that it was halting production and exports from all fields it controls.
The Sarir field was producing about 209,000 barrels per day before production was cut, engineers said. The move followed a decision by the Western-backed administration in western Libya to replace the governor of the central bank.
Force majeure has already been declared for the export of oil from the Ash Sharara field, which has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. Earlier in the week, Reuters reported the suspension of oil production from the El Feel, Amal, Nafoura and Abu Atifel fields. OPEC member Libya produced a total of about 1.18 million barrels of oil per day in July.
The eastern government in Benghazi is headed by Prime Minister Osama Hamad, supported by military commander Khalifa Haftar, and the western government in Tripoli, which is recognized by the UN, is headed by Abdel-Hamid Dbeybeh.