Libya has begun a partial shutdown of production at its largest oil field, according to three individuals with direct knowledge of the operations.
Output at the Sharara field dropped by 30,000 barrels a day to 230,000 as of Saturday night after operators received orders to start partially shutting down production, according to the people, who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the reason was for the shutdown or when the field would come to a complete halt. The field in southeast Libya is a venture between state oil firm the National Oil Corp., France’s Total SE, Spain’s Repsol SA, Austria’s OMV AG, and Norway’s Equinor ASA.
Libya holds Africa’s largest oil reserves, but political conflict frequently disrupts energy production, with armed groups or protesters periodically shutting down facilities to advance their demands.
