The Sharara oil field resumed production on Saturday evening after a tribal group closed the facility two days ago, demanding the release of ex-finance minister Faraj Boumtari.
Operations at the field, located in the Murzuq basin southeast of Libya, partially resumed at 30,000 barrels per day out of its usual 300,000 and will gradually return to average production over the next few days, sources familiar with the matter said.
Former finance minister Boumtari was arrested by the Internal Security Agency at Mitiga airport on Tuesday. A group of protesters from the Zawi tribe -who the ex-minister belongs to - shut the facility in response.
The Sharar field, one of Libya's largest production areas with a capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day, is run by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) via Acacus company with Spain's Repsol (REP.MC), France's Total (TTEF.PA), Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI), and Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL).
