Libya’s oil production falls 76% due to blockade

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said yesterday that the country’s crude oil production has decreased by 76.3 per cent, reaching nearly 284,000 barrels per day, after the forces of the Libyan National Army shut down major oil fields and ports in the east and south of the country.

NOC said in a statement that the average daily production has decreased from the 1.2 million barrels per day reported on 18 January.

It estimated cumulative losses of nearly $318 million as a result of the blockade imposed by the forces of Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar; warning of shortage of fuel supplies in some areas.

READ: US calls to ‘immediately’ resume oil production in Libya 

“Fuel is available in the central and eastern regions, but the warehouses in the western and southern regions suffer from lack of supplies due to the ongoing state of war,” it added.

The company renewed its call “for blockades to be lifted to allow the corporation to resume production immediately, to secure a continuing supply of fuel products to all regions and to restore vital revenues to the Libyan economy.”

Last week, LNA forces seized several large export terminals along the eastern coast as well as southern oil fields.