Libya’s NOC lifts force majeure on El Feel oilfield, expects production to reach 72.000 bpd

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that it was reopening the El Feel oilfield after resolving a dispute with guards over pay and benefits that shut it down in February.

Production at El Feel was expected to reach 50,000 bpd in two days, and 72,000 bpd three days later, NOC said in a statement.

The restart is a boost for Libya’s oil industry, coming one day after an unrelated stoppage at major eastern oil terminals was ended.

That disruption, which began in mid-June, had more than halved Libya’s national oil production from highs in February of 1.28 million bpd.

Operations at fields linked to the eastern ports are gradually resuming, with production restarting at the 70,000 bpd Abu Attifel field on Thursday.

El Feel was shut on February 23, when guards stormed offices at the southwestern field to press their demands.

“The dispute caused by the local Petroleum Facilities Guards’ (PFG) demands regarding pay and benefits was brought to an end,” the NOC statement said.

“Negotiations succeeded in guaranteeing an unconditional return of Fezzan Branch PFG to their previous locations.”

The NOC said it had lifted force majeure, a legal waiver on contractual obligations for exports from El Feel.