US welcomes reopening of Libya's largest oilfield

TRIPOLI - The US Embassy in Libya on Sunday welcomed the reopening of Sharara oilfield, the largest in Libya, after it was closed by tribal leaders in January.

"The Embassy welcomes the announcement by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) that it is resuming production at the critical Sharara oil field, a significant step forward as the NOC fulfills its crucial and apolitical mandate to promote the interests of all Libyans," the embassy said in a statement.

"The needless, five-month long shutdown of Libya's energy sector and the targeting of NOC personnel and facilities must end on a nationwide basis," said the statement.

"Now is the time for all responsible parties to reject attempts to militarize the energy sector, divide Libya's economic institutions, and subjugate critical infrastructure to foreign interests," it said.

The NOC, owned by Lybia's UN-backed government, said on Sunday that Sharara oilfield has been reopened after lengthy negotiations, confirming that production will start at a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day, with the full capacity production expected within 90 days due to the damage caused by the shutdown.

"The Libyan economy has suffered enough from the illegal blockades, and we hope that the restart of production at the Sharara oilfield will be the first step to revive the Libyan oil and gas sector and prevent an economic collapse in Libya," said NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla.

Oil ports and fields had been closed since January by tribal leaders in eastern Libya, who accuse the Tripoli-based UN-backed government of using oil revenues to support armed groups against the east-based army.

The closure of the oilfields and ports has caused losses of more than 5.2 billion U.S. dollars so far, the NOC confirmed.