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By Dave Forest - Aug 08, 2017, 10:30 AM CDT

More drama in embattled oil producer Libya this week. With reports suggesting the countrys largest oil field has once again been endangered by local fighting.

Reuters reported early Monday that production at the Sharara field was grinding to a halt. With local sources saying that a key control room at the facility had been shut down.

The reason for the closure wasnt immediately clear. But Reuters did cite persons familiar with the situation as saying that an armed group had taken action against the facility potentially resulting in the shutdown.

At the time, sources said that Shararas output was likely to decline to zero due to the problems at the control room. But reports emergedlater in the daysaying the problem had been fixed, and that production was now returning to normal.

Those reports confirmed that an armed group had been involved in action against the infrastructure here. With Libyas National Oil Company saying, The armed protesters were evacuated from the control room, pumping returned to its natural level and production is being restored.

All of whichis potentially critical news for the global crude market. With Sharara being the biggest part of Libyas recently-surging oil production putting out 270,000 barrels per day of Libyas total 1 million b/d output. Related:Barclays: Oil Prices To Drop This Quarter

It looks as if problems here have been averted for the time being. But these events show things are still tenuous in Libyas oil sector evidenced by the fact an armed group was able to take over one of the countrys key installations, even briefly.

If ongoing problems do present here, it could put a significant dent in crude supplies giving support to the oil price. Watch for reports on any new issues over the coming weeks and months.

Heres to a smooth return.

By Dave Forest

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Oil Prices Fall As Libya's Biggest Oil Field Comes Back Online - OilPrice.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell as much as 2 percent on Monday on selling triggered by a rebound in production from Libya's largest oil field, along with worries about higher output from OPEC and the United States.

Output at Libya's Sharara field was returning to normal after a brief disruption by armed protesters in the coastal city of Zawiya, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. The field has boosted Libya's oil production, which climbed to more than 1 million bpd in late June.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $52.16 a barrel at 2:05 p.m. EDT (1805 GMT) after trading as low as $51.37 a barrel

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were down 34 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $49.24 per barrel, after seeing a low of $48.54 a barrel.

Both contracts stood below levels hit last week, which marked their highest since late May.

Doubts have emerged about the effectiveness of output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other big producers including Russia. OPEC output hit a 2017 high in July and its exports hit a record.

"The petroleum markets are tipping toward the lower end of their recent trading range as oil producers meeting in Abu Dhabi have been slow to assure the market that compliance with this years production cuts will be improved, although we continue to note that adherence to the limits has actually been quite strong by historical standards," Tim Evans, Citi Futures' energy futures specialist, said in a note.

"The recent increase in OPEC production has mostly been a function of recovering volumes from Libya and Nigeria."

Officials from a joint OPEC and non-OPEC technical committee are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss ways to boost compliance with the deal to cut 1.8 million barrels per day in production.

Oil output in the United States remained high even though Baker Hughes data on Friday showed a cut of one drilling rig in the week to Aug. 4, bringing the U.S. rig count down to 765. RIG-OL-USA-BHI

U.S. weekly oil production hit 9.43 million bpd in the week to July 28, the highest since August 2015 and up 12 percent from its most recent low in June last year. C-OUT-T-EIA Morgan Stanley said in a note on Monday it expects to see U.S. oil production growing by 900,000 bpd in the fourth quarter versus a year earlier, up from a forecast of 860,000 bpd earlier.

Some analysts expected OPEC could talk up prices.

"Saudi Arabia will restate that they will export only 6.6 million bpd (six-year low) in August and inventories will continue to draw down," SEB Markets chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.

On the global demand side, Goldman Sachs said data available so far for June points to continued strong growth.

"We believe that the biggest driver for this robust demand is strong economic growth in recent months," Goldman said in a note.

Additional reporting by Libby George in London, Jane Chung in Seoul and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Jane Merriman, David Gregorio and Frances Kerry

Read the rest here:
Oil slides as output rises at Libya's largest oil field - Reuters

Conakry On 3 August, 132 Guinean migrants, including six unaccompanied children, returned voluntarily to Guinea from Libya with the support of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in collaboration with Guinean and Libyan authorities.

William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General, who was in Libya at the time, saw them off at Tripolis Mitiga Airport on Thursday. The returnees arrived in Conakry that same evening.

Many of these migrants just really want to go home, said Ambassador Swing from the airport tarmac. We have voluntarily returned nearly 6,000 people so far this year and we hope to have helped at least 12,00015,000 migrants get home safely from Libya through voluntary humanitarian return assistance by the end of 2017.

Prior to departure, IOM Libya conducted interviews and medical checkups with the migrants. They also received additional assistance, such as kits containing clothes and shoes.

At Conakry airport, the returnees were welcomed by teams from IOM, the National Service for Humanitarian Actions (SENAH), the Red Cross, representatives of the Ministry in charge of Guineans Living Abroad, and of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Apart from providing psychosocial support, IOM interviewed the returnees to obtain deeper insight into the profile of irregular migrants why they left their country, their migratory pathway and living conditions in Libya. Among the migrants assisted, three patients received medical assistance from the Red Cross upon arrival at Conakry. The three were then transferred by ambulance to a medical facility in a special unit prepared for returning migrants.

Further support will be provided as part of the IOM programme, Enhancement of Migration Governance and Support for the Sustainable Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea funded by the European Union.

Several returnees were interviewed, including Habib*, who had been working as a tailor in Libya for the last five years and owned a sewing workshop with his two brothers. He recounted how a police officer came over one day and asked him to adjust a uniform that was too large. The outfit was so large that Habib explained to him it was impossible. The officer lost his temper, stabbed Habib and ordered his imprisonment.

Amadou* left for Italy in one of five boats that set sail at the same time. Once they entered international waters, they were intercepted and captured by robbers/bandits. The sea was so rough that one of the boats capsized and sank with roughly 150 persons on board, most of whom were Guineans.

Mamadou* (14 years old) had left Bok several months earlier with money from a motor bike he had sold. His family had thought he was dead but some Guinean returning migrants told them he was at the Ghryian detention centre. IOM teams in Guinea and Libya joined efforts to locate and identify Mamadou. His family recognized him from a photograph taken by IOM at the detention centre. His elder brother came to meet him at the airport.

From 1 January to 19 July, IOM helped 5,546 migrants, 17 per cent of whom were women, return from Libya to their countries of origin. Three-quarters of these returnees had been held in detention centres. 2,221 were eligible for reintegration assistance. So far since January 2017, IOM has organized six flights of this nature from Libya to Guinea. These numbers of people returning add to other Guinean returnees from Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Niger.

The programme, Enhancement of Migration Governance and Support for the Sustainable Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea was launched in April 2017 for a three-year period covering six administrative regions of Guinea: Conakry, Bok, Mamou, Lab, Kankan and NZrkor. Under this project, IOM Guinea will support returning migrants, depending on their profiles and needs, by facilitating the creation of a small business, involving them in a collective and/or community business initiative, or providing them with vocational training.

*The names of the migrants have been changed to protect their privacy.

For more information, please contact Lucas Chandellier, at IOM Guinea, Tel: +224 628 33 86 53, E-mail: lchandellier@iom.int

Read more:
132 Guinean Migrants Return Home Safely from Libya with UN Migration Agency Help - ReliefWeb

The Libyan coastguard recovered more than 1000 migrants floating in wooden and rubber boats in the Mediterranean Sea over the past few days and returned them to the Libyan coast.

Since Friday, 1124 people have been saved, the International Organization for Migration said on Monday.

The Italian government decided in July to launch a naval mission providing technical and logistical support to the Libyan coastguard, a move seen as a potential game changer in Europe's quest to stop sea migration from North Africa.

In the latest rescue mission, 155 people, including 18 women and 10 children, were rescued on Monday morning near the capital city of Tripoli.

The migrants came from several countries, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Sudan as well as sub-Saharan Africa and Syria, according to Italian media reports.

Libya has been in disarray since the NATO-backed ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Lawlessness in the former Italian colony has been a major factor in fuelling the migrant trafficking trade.

Around 114,000 migrants have landed in southern Europe since the start of the year, and about 82 per cent ended up in Italy, according to data from the IOM last month. Nearly all of them set sail from Libya.

See the article here:
More than 1000 migrants sent back to Libya - NEWS.com.au

Libyas biggest oil field Sharara is back to normal after a disruption caused by protests in the politically fragmented country,the state National Oil Corp. said.

Pumping was interrupted for hours after armed protesters shut some facilities, the NOC said in a statement. The company didnt give an updated figure for production at the field, nor did it explain what caused the disturbances or say who the protesters represent. Sharara in western Libya was producing 275,000 barrels a day as of July 12, a person with knowledge of the situation said at the time.

The field,operated by a joint venture between Libyas state producer and Repsol SA, Total SA, OMV AG and Statoil ASA, has experienced several brief shutdowns caused by different groups. It was closed for two days in June due to a protest by workers there.

Grievances and personal demands cannot be settled through causing harm to the entire population,NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallasaid Monday in the statement. The tactic of shutting down facilities is an unacceptable negotiation technique, said Sanalla, who has campaigned to end a rash of blockades at Libyas ports and fields since he assumed leadership of the company in May 2014.

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Libyas crude output and exports reached a fresh three-year high last month as fighting among armed militias abated and leaders of the countrys rival administrations agreed in principle on steps to unite the nation.The recovery inthe country with Africas largest crude reserves makes it harder for OPEC and allied oil-producing nations to curb a global supply surplus thats depressing prices for the commodity.

The North African producer shipped about 865,000 barrels a day of crude in July, tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That was a gain of 11 percent from June, which was already the highest since at least July 2014.

The speed at which Libya can revive crude sales is critical for the oil market because, together with Nigeria, the nation wasnt bound by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries supply restrictions that helped limit output this year. OPEC extended the cuts accord -- and Libyas exemption from it -- through March 2018.

Libya slid into chaos after the armed uprising that toppled and killed former strongman Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, with myriad armed groups and two administrations vying for control of the countrys energy facilities. Its rival leaders -- Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar -- agreed last month on calling for a cease-fire, combining the countrys divided oil company and armed forces, and holding elections as soon as possible.

Originally posted here:
Libya's Largest Oil Field `Back to Normal' After Disruption - Bloomberg