National Oil Corporation said in a statement that it had given instructions to start production arrangements, after reaching an “honour agreement” under which forces loyal to eastern Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar, would commit to ending all obstacles and ensuring that security breaches don’t occur. It comes after positive consultations, under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Libya, which took place last month in the Egyptian city of Hurghada, on the Red Sea coast, which dealt with security arrangements for oil fields and ports.
El Sharara oil field is Libya’s largest oil field located in the Murzuq Desert, south west of the country. It was discovered in 1980 and developed by OMV Petrom. The oil field is currently operated and owned by Repsol. The field produces about a third of Libya’s crude oil production, while official estimates say that its reserves amount to nearly three billion barrels of oil, and thus it is considered one of the largest oil fields in the country, next to the El Feel field. Most Libyan oil production fields and its export ports are located in areas under the control of Haftar’s forces, in which work was suspended nearly nine months ago.