Militias this week shut in Libya’s key Sharara oilfield, taking with it nearby El Feel. As NOC started to aim for the sky, events outside its control brought it back down.

On 9 December Libya’s largest oilfield, El Sharara, was forcibly shut-down by a local group called the Fezzan Anger Movement, supported by the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) purportedly there to ensure the security of the facilities.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the shutdown at Repsol-operated El Sharara, in the country’s remote far southwest takes offline 315,000 b/d, together with 73,000 b/d from the nearby Eni-led El Feel which is dependent on the El Sharara facility for power supply (see map). NOC also warned the Zawiya refinery which is fed by El Sharara would “cease producing essential fuels for local consumption unless alternative supply is identified.”

NOC condemned the...