Libya's Oil Output Back to Normal after Brief Closure of Fields: NOC

Libyan oil production has returned to normal after suffering limited disruption from a brief protest by security personnel who shut down three oilfields on Tuesday, National Oil Corporation (NOC) Chairman Massoud Suleman told Reuters on Wednesday.

Suleman said he does not expect further shutdowns.

Members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), which secures Libya's oil facilities, closed a valve on the main Hamada-Zawiya crude-loading pipeline, completely halting production at the Hamada, Tahara and NC5 fields.

Libya's oil and gas sector is a key revenue earner for Libya and main driver of its economy.

Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, two of the protesters said on Wednesday that the group had ended their protest at the oil facilities and would "discuss their demands" with NOC in Tripoli this week.

They had demanded their ​agency be transferred "financially and administratively under the National Oil Corporation". It was not immediately clear what the reasons behind the PFG demands were.

Libyan oil output has been subject to repeated closures for political and technical reasons since the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. The latest turbulence added further strain to a global oil market already facing severe disruption from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.