People who control the eastern part of Libya are said to be loyalists of Khalifa Haftar. The said group have taken over the largest oil field in the Southwest region of the country, Sharara. The field stopped working in December 2018 following armed demonstrations and is now reported to be secure and ready to resume production according to Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army.
The Sharara oil field, the largest in Libya,produces about 300,000 barrels of oil per day. According to one of their spokespersons, Khalifa Haftar’s forces promised to return the refinery to the national unity government based in Tripoli, once rehabilitated.
Libya is Africa’s largest crude reserves, and the lack of clarity about troop movements and security in the south had cast doubt on the nation’s plan to boost output to 2.1 million barrels a day by the end of 2021. Libya’s civil war led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in December to exempt it from participating in global production cuts.