(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is now on board with the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) plans to resume oil production from three oil ports.
The NOC said it “will now start working” towards reopening the oil ports in coordination with the GNA who is supported by the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), the brigade that is guarding the Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zueitina oil ports.
Force majeure is a legal clause that allows Libya to terminate oil exports was put into effect after the three oil ports were attacked multiple times in 2014.
Oil production is expected to increase by about 900,000 barrels per day by December, according to the NOC, who will be receiving funds to process the reopening of the port and the oil production.
Mustafa Sanalla, the NOC’s chairman who has criticized the GNA for giving into the PFG’s demands for money said, “We need to be clear there are still big military, political and legal obstacles that must be resolved. In the spirit of national unity, we urge the tribes and the municipalities in the oil-producing areas all over Libya to cooperate and join our commitment to let Libya’s oil flow freely.”
In a statement posted on their website on Sunday, the NOC said it supported the GNA’s efforts in reopening the oil ports after the GNA’s Presidency Council assured the NOC that it will only pay the PFG their overdue salaries.
In June, oil production was reduced to 320,000 barrels per day compared to the 1.6 million barrels per day the country was producing before the start of the 2011 uprising. The Repsol SA-operated Sharara and ENI SpA’s Elephant, also known as El Feel, are two of Libya’s largest oil fields that were taken over by militia groups and tribes. Oil production from the two oil fields can produce a total of 450,000 barrels per day.