Libya’s National Oil Company has confirmed that is has lost virtually all of its oil production, at 1.2 million barrels per day of oil production, and $77 million in daily financial loss, according to the Libya Herald.
NOC has confirmed that the ports of Hariga, Brega, Sidra, and Ras Lanuf ports are closed and under force majeure.
The US Embassy in Libya today announced that the NOC should be allowed to immediately resume oil operations that have been offline since this weekend, after groups loyal to General Khalifa Haftar blocked all major oil ports. The US cited a worsening humanitarian emergency in the country.
The NOC responded favorably to the US calls for resuming oil production, but said that “operations can only resume when illegal blockades are lifted. Blockading hurts Libyan people and inflicts severe damage to the country’s economy. All responsible parties should lift blockades and respect rule of law.”
Libya’s oil production, according to secondary sources provided in OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report for January, was 1.139 million bpd as of December.
Despite the significant loss of production, oil prices have failed to move up, and oil was trading down on Tuesday, with WTI trading down 0.55% at $58.26 per barrel and Brent trading down 1.03% at $64.53 per barrel.
The NOC has also warned that the shutdown of associated gas production, which supplies power plants in Zuetina and North Benghazi, will result in power shortages, which will lead to load shedding in the east. Supplies to the Ubari power plant in the south has also been disrupted, and when existing supplies run out, this power plant will shut down as well.
