The Government of National Unity (GNU) confirmed on Sunday that it was following up on the technical and security reports it received regarding the "attempt to close the Sharara oil field" located in southwestern Libya, considering that this came "within the framework of new attempts at political blackmail."
In a statement on Facebook, the GNU expressed its condemnation of any attempt aimed at disrupting an important "economic artery" such as the Sharara field, which represents about 40% of the country's oil production.
The GUN said that Libya's production share in Sharara is 88% and the foreign operator's share is only 12%, noting that closing the field results in "exacerbating the suffering of the Libyan people who have paid the price alone for the repeated oil closure crises that have caused serious damage to the national economy and negatively affected the lives of citizens."
The statement renewed GNU's call for the use of the language of reason, to uphold the interests of the nation and the citizen, and to abandon actions that harm them.
This comes amid the closure of the Sharara oil field since Saturday night, as an armed group affiliated with Saddam Haftar closed the field operated by the Spanish company Repsol; in protest against the issuance of a Spanish arrest warrant against him due to his possible involvement in oil smuggling.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Fezzan movement, Bashir Al-Sheikh, denied in a video recording any connection by him or the Fezzan movement to closing the field, stressing that Saddam Haftar issued immediate instructions by phone to close the field.
