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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Benghazi - Asharq Al-Awsat

Protesters Shut Down Libyan Oilfield over State Services

A worker checks pipes and valves in eastern Libya October 7, 2011. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

A spokesman for Libya's National Oil Corp subsidiary Sirte Oil Co said Wednesday that production from the 5,000-barrels-per-day Raguba field had been blocked by protesters.

The protesters threatened to shut oilfields and pipelines passing through their home region of Marada unless authorities improved state services.

Reuters quoted the spokesman as saying that production at Sirte Oil stands at about 61,000 bpd.

A pipeline of the Waha oil company, an NOC joint venture with foreign firms, running through Marada feeds the Es Sider port. Waha pumps around 260,000 bpd, officials have said.

Some youths had also protested at Marada town's lack of road links to other communities and demanded jobs, officials have said, a common grievance in Libya.

Armed groups have twice blown up the pipeline near Marada since December as security in the remote eastern area is volatile.

ISIS militants had a presence there until government forces expelled them from their main stronghold in Sirte in 2016.

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