Reopening Libya’s 70,000 barrel-per-day Al-Feel oilfield, which was shut by a dispute on February 23, has been agreed on, the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) said on Wednesday.
“It has been agreed to reopen Al-Feel oilfield,” PFG spokesman Taha Ghrouda said, adding that from Thursday morning the PFG “will return and production will be resumed, too.” Reuters reported.
An engineer in the field also told Reuters that preparations were being made for production to restart on Thursday, and that some workers who had been staying nearby had returned to the field.
The oilfield was shut and evacuated after PFG withdrew from El Feel to push demands over pay and other benefits. State-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said PFG members had threatened staff, tampered with papers and shot in the air.
NOC declared force majeure on loadings of Mellitah crude on Feb. 24. The NOC operates El Feel in a joint venture with Italy’s Eni. There was no immediate comment from the NOC.
The announcement of the planned restart followed the arrest on Tuesday of a senior PFG commander from El Feel, who was held in Tripoli for questioning, according to several sources familiar with the case
