Libya’s National Oil Corporation said on Saturday that it had resumed crude flows from the Sharara field through the Sharara-Zawiya pipeline after reopening a valve that had remained closed for five days. The corporation estimated the crisis had caused losses of about $95 million.
Crude flows return gradually
The corporation said joint efforts had succeeded in reopening Valve No. 7 on the main crude transport pipeline between the Sharara field and the Zawiya refinery, allowing pumping operations to resume and flows to gradually return to normal levels.
Technical teams began implementing engineering arrangements and precautionary measures to restart operations safely and ensure stable crude flows toward the Zawiya refinery and export terminals.
Shutdown disrupts refining unit
The continued closure of the pipeline disrupted operations at the Zawiya refinery, prompting the National Oil Corporation to shut down one of its refining units as a precaution before the valve was reopened.
Protesters from the Petroleum Facilities Guard in southwestern Libya had closed the valve in the Hamada area, about 400 kilometers south of the capital, Tripoli, as part of moves to demand higher monthly wages.
A key pipeline for refining and exports
The pipeline links the Sharara field, located about 800 kilometers south of Tripoli, with the Zawiya refinery, about 50 kilometers west of the capital. It is used to transport crude to the refinery and export terminals.
The United Nations mission in Libya had warned that attacks on oil and energy infrastructure, or any actions that could undermine it, could provide grounds for imposing punitive measures under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
