Libya's state-owned oil firm NOC declared force majeure on crude exports from its El Sharara field on 7 August, after production was forcibly shut down earlier this week.
Production from the field heads to the market as the Esharara grade from the Zawia terminal. Eight cargoes of Esharara totalling 5mn bl were scheduled to be exported from Zawia in August, according to loading programmes. A 630,000 bl cargo chartered by Norway's Equinor departed the terminal on 3 August, Kpler data showed.
El Sharara, located in Libya's southwest desert region, was producing 260,000-270,000 b/d before the latest disruption. Exports of Esharara crude from Zawia averaged 163,000 b/d between May and July, according to Kpler.
NOC said the "force majeure situation" would not be applicable to loading and unloading of refined products at Zawia.
Argus understands the field's closure was orchestrated by the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls much of the country's east and south including El Sharara in the southwest. Sources said the order to shut the field came from Saddam Haftar, son of LNA head General Khalifa Haftar.
El Sharara has been a frequent target of armed groups over the past decade for reasons ranging from local grievances to national political ambitions. While some past shutdowns at El Sharara have spread to other oil fields — leading to output losses of up to 1mn b/d — the current outage appears contained.
