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Libya’s Sharara and El Feel Oilfields Have Resumed Saturday Evening

Libyan oilfield AAWSAT AR
Libyan oilfield AAWSAT AR
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Libya’s Sharara and El Feel Oilfields Have Resumed Saturday Evening

Libyan oilfield AAWSAT AR
Libyan oilfield AAWSAT AR

Production at Libya's Sharara and El Feel oilfields, which were shut on Thursday following the abduction of a former finance minister, has resumed on Saturday evening, four oil engineers and oil ministry said.

Sharara has partially resumed at 30,000 barrels per day out of its usual 290,000, two engineers said. Production will return to normal on Sunday morning, they said, Reuters reported.

The Sharara field, one of Libya's largest production areas with a capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day, has been a frequent target for several political reasons and demands by local protesters.

The field is located in Murzuq basin in southeast Libya. It is run by the state oil firm NOC via Acacus company with Spain's Repsol (REP.MC), France's Total (TTEF.PA), Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI), and Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL).

El Feel field, which has a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day, is operated by Mellitah Oil and Gas which is a joint venture between the state oil firm NOC and Italy's Eni (ENI.MI).

Sharara and El Feel oilfields, as well as the 108 field, were all closed in a protest by al-Zawi tribe in response to the kidnapping of former finance minister Faraj Bumatari. The 108 oilfield remains shut.

In a message to Reuters on Saturday, the tribe's leader Al-Senussi Al-ahlaiq confirmed the release of Bumatari, who was kidnapped after arriving at Mitiga airport on Tuesday.

The UN- mission in Libya said in a tweet it "reiterates its call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained including civilians, civic activists, political figures & members of security service."

Libya's oil minister Mohamed Aoun told Dubai-based Asharq TV on Saturday that the oilfields' closure had cost the North African country the production of 340,000 barrels.

The oil ministry also said the closures could lead to the declaration of force majeure.

"The loss of confidence in the continuity of Libyan oil supply to the global market will result in a loss of market share for Libyan oil and decreased demand for it," the ministry said in a statement.

Libyan oil output has been subjected to repeated closures for different political reasons and local protesters' demands during the chaotic decade since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

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Arab World

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.