Supporters of Haftar have blockaded major oil fields and ports in Libya since January. Credit: Zbynek Burival.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has confirmed the restart of production at the Sharara oilfield in Libya, which was closed for more than four months.

The move comes following lengthy negotiations by the company, with militants to reopen the Hamada valve, which had been illegally closed in January last year.

This resulted in the shutdown of production and collapse of the Surge Tank D101 B. The tank, situated in area (GOSP115) at the Sharara oilfield, has a 16,000 barrel capacity.

NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla said: “The Libyan economy has suffered enough from the illegal blockades and we have much to do, and we hope that the restart of production at the Sharara oil field will be a first step to reviving the Libyan oil and gas sector and preventing an economic collapse in Libya in these difficult times.”

Initially, the Sharara oilfield will have the capacity to produce 30,000 barrels/day. Full production is expected within 90 days due to the damages that have resulted from the shutdown.

An NOC engineer was quoted by Reuters as saying that El Feel, a field linked to Sharara, also reopened on Sunday.

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However, NOC did not immediately confirm regarding the field, which had previously produced 70,000 bpd.

Prior to the cutoff amid an offensive by Khalifa Haftar, who leads a rebel military force based in Libya’s east, Sharara was producing around 300,000 barrels.

Since January, supporters of Haftar have blockaded major oil fields and ports, cutting production in the country from as much as 1.2 million barrels a day to 90,000 barrels.