Libya's Oil Output Halved Amid Political Standoff

More than half of Libya's oil production, or around 700,000 barrels per day, was offline, as a standoff between rival political factions over the central bank and oil revenue threatens to break a four-year period of relative peace.

The crisis over control of the Central Bank of Libya threatens a new bout of instability in a major oil producer, split between eastern and western factions that have drawn backing from Turkey and Russia.

Output at oil fields controlled by Waha Oil Company, a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation, has dropped to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 280,000 bpd, engineers said, adding output was expected to fall further.

Production has also been halted or reduced at the Sharara, Sarir, Abu Attifel, Amal and Nafoora fields, engineers have said.

Central Bank's Interim Governor Designated by The Presidency Council, Abdel Fattah Abdel Ghaffar, saying: “We stand by the citizens regarding everything. Let me be clear and honest with you. I feel sorry that a minor disagreement leads to closing organizations, shutting them down and stopping salaries for the people. Unfortunately, I don’t want to dwell on the subject, but we have taken steps to correct the situation and hopefully, within the next two or three days, everything will be in our hands and under control. I want to reassure the Libyan citizens on this matter.”

That has taken roughly 700,000 bpd of oil output offline, according to calculations. Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July.

Eastern factions have vowed to keep Libya's oil output shuttered until the internationally recognized Presidency Council and Government of National Unity in Tripoli, in the west, return veteran central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir to his post.