The Government of National Unity (GNU), announced on Monday that it has withdrawn the force majeure for oil and gas explorations and welcomed multinational oil companies having contracts with the state oil corporation (NOC) to start operations in the country.
The NOC also urged the companies to resume operations and assured them of its readiness to provide all necessary assistance, as oil production has been repeatedly disrupted in Libya, an OPEC member, by groups blockading facilities, sometimes to demand material benefits but also as a tactic to achieve broader political goals.
In “cooperation with the civil and military authorities in Libya,” NOC stated that it would assist the enterprises with their return and offer a secure workplace.
Groups associated with Khalifa Haftar’s eastern commander during the most recent major conflict disrupted almost all of Libya’s oil production for eight months.
“This call comes within the corporation’s efforts to lift force majeure after an objective follow-up and evaluation based on a realistic and logical analysis of the security situation, which has begun to improve dramatically,” the NOC said.
It went on to say that the improved security situation has resulted in “the start of excavation work in sites where it was difficult to work in the recent past, but where there are now many global service companies.”
NOC chief Farhat Bengdara said in November that oil output had risen to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from 600,000 bpd three months ago and that NOC does not expect any disruption in oil production.
The previous big blockade, also carried out by Haftar-aligned forces, reduced Libyan oil output by almost half and ended in July, when the government in the western capital of Tripoli installed Bengdara as head of the NOC.
In October, the government led by Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah signed a preliminary agreement on energy exploration with Turkey, which was rejected by Libya’s eastern-based parliament, which supports an alternative administration.
