Libya’s largest oil field partially shut down

Libya's largest oil field, El Sharara, has been partially shut down as of this morning, a source close to the matter told Argus.

So far, the field has lost about 28,000 b/d of crude production from pre-shutdown levels of about 260,000-270,000 b/d, the source said. The shutdown is currently limited to a few of the field's production facilities.

Asked if the whole field could be closed, the source said "anything is possible." Previous forced shutdowns at El Sharara have typically taken a couple of days to drive production down to zero.

Argus understands the shutdowns are being orchestrated by forces loyal to the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA) which controls much of the country's east and south, including El Sharara in the southwest. The exact reason for the shutdown is unclear.

El Sharara, which is spread over Blocks NC-186 and NC-115, is operated by Akakus Oil Operations, a joint venture between Spain's Repsol, TotalEnergies, Austria's OMV, Norway's state-controlled Equinor and Libya's state-owned NOC. The field has been a frequent target of armed groups over the last decade for reasons ranging from local grievances to national political ambitions.

El Sharara was last shutdown in January, for a period of three weeks.

Opec member Libya typically produces around 1.2mn b/d of crude, but output in recent weeks had increased to about 1.25mn b/d. Some of these gains had been due to Repsol-led development work at El Sharara.

The Ice front-month October Brent crude contract settled at $76.81/bl on Friday.

By Aydin Calik