Libya's seesawing oil production

The head of the country's National Oil Corporation is succeeding in pushing output higher against the odds, only for its ubiquitous militias to push it back down again

The latest force pressing down on Libya's crude production comes from a familiar source: militias holding oil facilities to ransom. On 23 February, the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), a state-funded militia, forcibly closed the southwestern El Feel field, a joint venture between NOC and Italy's Eni. NOC said the guards rioted, firing in the air and threatening staff who fled the site. As a result, El Feel's 70,000 barrels a day of production ceased. NOC declared force majeure on supplies from the field. NOC chairman and chief executive Mustafa Sanalla has previously complained about militias trying to control oil facilities. In February, Sanalla told Petroleum Economist that "all Libyans d