Barely 48 hours after the announcement of the resumption of oil production at the El Feel and Sharara oilfields in Libya, the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced that a militia has seized the Sharara field again and demanded that the resumed operations be halted.

The oil pipelines were closed since January by a protesting faction of the Libyan National Army, who had used the blockade to make the government listen to their concerns.

The corporation has reportedly been in negotiation with the LNA for a while now, even before the announced resumption. It noted that it was surprised by the return of armed militia to the oilfield, and stated that it would use all means possible to eject them and allow the resumption of production. Sharara was supposed to restart with a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day and expected to reach its full production capacity of 300,000 barrels per day within three months.

Libya, which is a member country of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. It was a major exporter of oil, with revenues from oil playing a major part in the financing of the country’s budget and the running of its affairs.

The NOC had earlier announced that the country had lost over $5 billion during the period of the blockade. Libya has been running at a loss of production for a while now, even before the COVID-19 pandemic caused global oil prices to drop.

The restart of two of the nation’s oilfields was expected to bring life back to the booming oil market in the country, and even to help the OPEC+ quest for stability and recovery of the global oil market. With this recent development, concerns are being raised as to if production will also be halted in the El Feel oilfield.