Libya to reopen key southern oilfield

Libya's National Oil Company said on Thursday it will re-open a southern oil field and resume production within 48 hours, after announcing a resumption of exports in the eastern oil crescent.

The NOC announced "the lifting of force majeure" at the al-Fil field, in place since 23 February, in a statement on its website.

Production would resume at an initial rate of "50,000 bpd (barrels per day) within two days and (rise) to 72,000 bpd three days later", the NOC added.

Force majeure is a legal measure that frees a company from contractual obligations due to circumstances beyond its control.

Production stopped at al-Fil due to a strike by the local branch of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, which demanded higher salaries.

The NOC said "the dispute... regarding pay and benefits was brought to an end" at the field.

Al-Fil is in the Marzuq basin in the southwest of the country and is managed by Mellitah Oil and Gas, a joint venture between NOC and Italian firm Eni.

Separately, the NOC on Wednesday said it was resuming exports from terminals in eastern Libya's oil crescent after shipments were stopped for more than two weeks due to a standoff between rival political administrations.

Exports from all four of the eastern ports had been suspended after military strongman Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army regained full control of the region from a rival militia in June.

Haftar refuses to recognise the authority of a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and supports a parallel administration in eastern Libya.