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By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 29 October 2013:
The Sharara oilfield in Obari remained closed today despite Oil Minister Abdulbari Al-Arousi’s visit yesterday, according . . .[restrict]to the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Arousi announced that pumping would resume within 24 hours, after Tuareg protesters, demanding their language be given official status in the forthcoming constitution, closed the field on Sunday.
The ministerial delegation, accompanied by NOC head Nuri Berrwin, met the oilfield director to discuss the repercussions of stopping oil production. It also held consultations with the Ministry of Defence and General Staff over a plan for the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), who apparently advised the shutdown, to secure the oilfield.
Responding to Tuerag concerns that the area was being marginalised, Arousi pointed out that there were plans to set up a branch of the Ministry and Oil and Gas, a refinery and the Institute of Training and Manufacturing of Petroleum Products in the Obari region, according to Libyan news agency LANA news agency.
The field is run by Akakus Oil, a joint venture between Spain’s Repsol and NOC. Officials at the oilfield are now awaiting further instructions from head of the PFG, pending decisions from the Government and the General National Congress, NOC media head Omar Al Emari told the Libya Herald.
The Sharara oilfield is located in southwestern Libya, 800 kilometres south of Tripoli, and has the capacity to produce an estimated 350,000 barrels per day (bpd). [/restrict]
