Libya's oilfield closures spread in standoff over central bank

Libya’s oilfield closures spread today as the Sarir field almost completely halted output, two field engineers told Reuters, amid a political dispute over control of the central bank and oil revenue.

Authorities in the east, where most of Libya’s oil fields lie, declared on Monday that all production and exports would be halted.

Sarir was producing about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) before output was reduced, the engineers said.

Force majeure had already been announced on exports at the 300,000 bpd Sharara oilfield and this week disruptions were reported at El Feel, Amal, Nafoora and Abu Attifel.

In July, Libya, an OPEC member, was producing about 1.18 million barrels of oil per day.

The move to shut off Libya’s main source of revenue comes in response to the Tripoli-based Presidency Council sacking Central Bank of Libya (CBL) chief Sadiq Al-Kabir, prompting rival armed factions to mobilise.

Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, installed through a UN-backed process in 2021 and head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, said this week that oil fields should not be allowed to be shut “under flimsy pretexts”.

Yesterday, US Africa Command General Michael Langley and Chargé d’Affaires Jeremy Berndt met Khalifa Haftar, the head of a force called the Libyan National Army that controls the country’s east and south.

“The United States urges all Libyan stakeholders to engage constructively in dialogue,” with support from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the international community, the US Embassy in Libya said on social media platform X.

READ: UN warns Libya faces economic collapse amid Central Bank crisis