Libya’s government has said that oil fields shutdown by protesters could reopen this week, potentially allowing the OPEC member to get back to full production.
Oil Minister Mohamed Oun met tribal leaders over the weekend (April 24) to discuss the closures, which have caused Libya’s daily crude oil output to fall to 500,000 barrels from 1.3 million in the past 10 days.
The leaders “are in the process of reaching a final agreement that would put an end” to the closures, Libya’s government said in a Facebook post.
The shutdowns are the latest in a series of disruptions to hit Libya’s energy sector this year as political tensions rise. Protests calling for Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to quit have engulfed many major oil facilities. Libya’s biggest field, Sharara, and the nearby El Feel deposit are both shut down currently.
Libya has been mired in conflict for much of the period since the 2011 fall of dictator Moammar Al Qaddafi. The North African nation was meant to hold a presidential election in December, but it was delayed with just days to go, dealing a blow to peace efforts.
Dbeibah is resisting demands from some lawmakers to resign after they declared former interior minister Fathi Bashagha as prime minister in February of this year.
Prices for crude oil dropped for last week – the third weekly drop out of the last four – with China facing a large consumption hit and the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling that it will aggressively tighten monetary policy to curb inflation.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell over $4 U.S. this past week, settling near $102 U.S. a barrel after a volatile trading week.
Fuel consumption in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, is expected to drop 20% in April from a year ago, according to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
