Libya’s oil production has dropped to 390,000 barrels/day, down by 70,000 barrels/day compared to last week’s production, because of the partial halt in production at Al-Charara due to activities of armed groups, the spokesperson for the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC), Mohamed Al-Hariri, said in Tripoli on Monday.
He said Al-Charara was at the moment producing under its normal capacity, which was estimated at 340,000 barrels/day, because of the troubles that caused the partial closing of the pipeline near the city of Zenten, in the west of the country.
”We hope that the government will solve the problem at Al-Charara,” he said, stressing that production of the same field was estimated last Wednesday at 301,000 barrels/day.
Armed groups, ex-rebels, as well as men belonging to tribes, often closed oil pipelines to put pressure on the government to force it to satisfy their demands.
Those troubles come at a time when Libya is attempting to restore stability, three years after the revolution that led to the fall of dictator Mouamar Kadhafi.
A few days ago, NOC announced that the losses recorded by the country following the closing of oil sites were estimated at US$10 billion in 2013.
