Angry landowner shuts off a valve – and a quarter of Libya’s oil production

Libya’s El Sharara oilfield was shut down yesterday by a landowner who closed a valve in protest at pollution at a pipeline crossing his land.

The closure – confirmed by an engineer and Libyan oil sources – follows a shutdown at the nearby El Feel oilfield a week ago by guards, and is another blow to Libya’s oil production.

Sharara has a capacity of 340,000 barrels per day (bpd) and had pumped up to 308,000 bpd last week – a quarter of Libya’s national output. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) operates it in partnership with Repsol, Total, OMV and Statoil.

“I closed the pipeline that crosses my land. The land is six hectares and it has become wasteland,” said Hassan Mohamed Al Hadi, the landowner in the western Zintan area.

“We closed the pipeline last year for the same reason. A number of mediators had intervened to persuade me to reopen it within 20 days for cleaning the land, but unfortunately the same thing has returned.”

Flows from Sharara, in the south-west, did not reach the Mediterranean port of Zawiya, the oilfield engineer said – confirming the closure. A decision on whether to declare force majeure on exports will depend on the expected length of the interruption, an oil source said.

Sharara reopened after a long blockade in late 2016 but has had stoppages since because of protests by guards and other groups amid the turmoil in the country since the 2011 fall of Muammar Qaddafi.

As living standards in Libya have deteriorated through conflict and falling oil revenues, local groups have tried to press demands by blockading the country’s oil facilities.

“The National Oil Corporation does not stand to its responsibility and clean the land as happened before 2011,” said Mr Al Hadi.

Sharara is one of Libya’s main export grades and also feeds the 120,000 bpd Zawiya oil refinery in the west – the largest operating refinery.

A week ago NOC declared force majeure on the 70,000 bpd El Feel, operated by the state-owned NOC and Italy’s Eni, after the guards’ protest. Its crude is blended with condensate from Wafa field for the Mellitah blend, exported from Mellitah terminal.

Sharara was pumping 308,000 bpd and also feeds Libya’s largest oil refinery, Zawiya, which produces 120,000 bpd