- In a Facebook post, NOC said that the move was adopted as “force majeure” due to protests at the site.
Amidst skyrocketing prices of crude oil, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has declared the suspension of production at the Al-Fil field. In a Facebook post, NOC said that the move was adopted as “force majeure” due to protest at the site. It was reported that a group of protestors tried to close and disrupted the production. The unidentified group demanded a government appointed by parliament in the capital according to Libya’s state news agency.
The field, located some 750km (466 miles) southwest of Tripoli, was forced to close down temporarily in early March this year when an armed group shut down valves delivering crude. The closure on April 17 th is the second in a span of a few weeks curtailing NOC’s attempts to fulfil its contractual obligations. The field is jointly managed by the NOC and Italian energy giant ENI and produces about 70,000 barrels of oil per day.
By declaring force majeure, it allows involved parties the legal right to free themselves from contractual obligations when faced with situations beyond control, such as fighting or natural disasters.
After more than a year of calm, Libya is again heading into turmoil with deepening clashes between the two rival governments. Challenging the UN-backed government in Tripoli, the eastern-based parliament in February appointed a new prime minister. Over the past two months, divisions among Libyan armed factions have also intensified. Rival fighter groups and foreign powers have scrambled for control of Libya’s large oil reserves.
Read Also; https://trendsnafrica.com/libyan-political-crisis-deepens/
https://trendsnafrica.com/libyas-national-oil-company-suspends-oil-production-from-two-major-fields/
