Libya Loses 50,000 BPD In Production As Protests Continue

The Sara oilfield has dropped production by 50,000 barrels per day due to ongoing protests at the area, according to a new report by Reuters.

The Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) said it was “very concerned” about the development of events in the area, adding notes that Wintershall had been reducing production without official notification.

Libya is one of two African countries that have been allowed to take advantage of an exemption since January, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began their deal to reduce supplies to the glutted market.

Since the deal went into effect in January, both Nigeria and Libya have been recovering their capacity, making it harder and harder to justify their special treatment in the cartel. Several members in the bloc have made their opinions heard about the situation, but so far, no rumors about a change in status for the African duo have been heard.

Despite the recovery in Libyan oil production over the course of 2017, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has been able to raise funds to cover 25 percent of the its budget, according to a recent announcement by NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla.

“Our colleagues in OPEC and non-OPEC understand the situation, there’s uncertainty in Libya ... We were very frank and we gave reports,” the oil leader added. “We lost in one day 90,000 bpd because of lack of money.”

Sanalla met with a group of Libyan and international oil experts in London last month to discuss strategies to safeguard the nation’s oil facilities from domestic turmoil. Participants drafted guidelines for the government’s interactions with the NOC, which stated that Libya should make timely payments to its state oil company to ensure it remains solvent. Still, the war-torn nation requires financial support through the next stage of its development without a dictatorial voice.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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