German energy company Wintershall said it was able to restart production from a license area in Libya, which the government said was closed illegally.

A spokesman for the company said production resumed from the C96 license area, part of the As-Sarah field, during the weekend. Production was closed in November following pressure from a municipality that complained the national oil company wasn't meeting local demands.

"At the beginning of November 2017, the community of Jakhira demanded that Wintershall should shut in production in C96," the spokesman said in a statement emailed to UPI. "We immediately informed NOC about the blockade in November."

The Libyan National Oil Corp. said the closure resulted in a total loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels in production at a cost of $281 million. NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said that reopening the field was a "humiliating" blow to the Jakhira municipality and the closure would be investigated as a crime.

"The perpetrators and others considering using the tactic should remember this is a very serious offense for which there is no statute of limitations," he warned.

Wintershall said the As-Sarah field is its largest producer in Libya. Production has moved in fits and starts since the end of the reign of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. A year ago, production from As-Sarah was limited to around 35,000 barrels per day.

Libya produced around 962,000 barrels of oil per day on average in December, just short of the post-Gadhafi record. Output before civil conflict in 2011 was above 1 million barrels per day.

Libya, along with Nigeria, is formally excluded from an effort by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to balance an oversupplied market with coordinated production cuts. Both countries are out of the agreement so they can use oil revenue for national security efforts.

Tweet

Don't worry about oil price movement yet, Russia says
Washington (UPI) Jan 19, 2018
It's too early in 2018 to discuss stabilization for oil prices, which are down 2 percent from their peak, but up 3.5 percent so far, a Russian official said. Crude oil prices started the year on a historic rally, moving from $66.65 per barrel for Brent, the global benchmark, to its highest close in four years, just above $70 per barrel, in a span of about a week and a half. As of early ... read more

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only