Armed group blocks key oilfield in SW Libya

An armed group has seized one of Libya’s largest oilfields in the country’s southwest, the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Monday. The seizure of the Akakus-operated Sharara oilfield prompted the company to declare “force majeure” on exports from the site as of Sunday. Akakus is a joint venture between NOC, Spain’s Repsol energy company, France’s Total, Austria’s OMV and Norway’s Statoil. It produces some 315,000 barrels per day, out of Libya’s current output of one million bpd. The field’s shutdown risks production at neighboring oil facilities including al-Feel oilfield, which relies on Sharara for electricity, and al-Zawiya refinery, dependent on Sharara for crude oil to produce fuel for local consumption, AFP reported.