Mustafa Sanalla, head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), on 26 June complained that “Russian and other foreign mercenaries” had entered the compound of its El Sharara oil fields with a convoy of vehicles and met with the field’s security forces. Their “goal is to prevent oil production,” he says.

The 300,000 b/d-capacity El Sharara has been practically shut-in since mid-January when eastern-based General Khalifa Haftar imposed a nationwide oil blockade (MEES, 24 January), bringing output from around 1.2mn b/d to around 80,000 b/d today. Attempts earlier this month to restart production from El Sharara and the nearby 70,000 b/d El Feel field were blocked by groups aligned to Mr Haftar (MEES, 12 June). (CONTINUED - 227 WORDS)