Summary
The events behind every single oil shutdown in Libya that has occurred since the removal of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 make the introductions to ‘Soap’ seem as clear as crystal.
Although this output level was well below the peak levels of more than 3 million bpd achieved in the late 1960s, its National Oil Corporation (NOC) had plans in place before 2011 to roll out enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques to increase crude oil production at maturing oil fields.
General Haftar and his LNA forces in the east of the country (where most of Libya’s big oil fields are located) oppose al-Kabir’s removal.
The following day, several key Libyan oil fields were offline, including the 70,000 bpd El-Feel field.
As of the end of last week, Libya’s crude oil production was down over 60 percent from the 1.15 million bpd average it had pumped in July.