Tripoli/Benghazi, Libya | – Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) warned on Sunday of “catastrophic consequences” if the El Sharara oilfield is brought to a complete halt by a tribesmen protest. Should the 315,000 barrel-a-day field shut down, it would take a long time to bring it back on stream and production from another field would also be affected, the state oil firm said. “Shutting down production at the El Sharara field will have catastrophic, long-term consequences, it would take a long time to resume production …

London, UK | – Libya’s UN-backed government warned on Tuesday that any oil exports by a rival administration in the east would be illegal after the region’s military strongman handed over its key export ports. “All exports by parallel institutions are illegal and any attempt will fail just as previous ones have,” said the head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation Mustafa Sanallah. The self-styled Libyan National Army of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar announced on Monday that all future revenues from the eastern oil ports which …

London, UK | – The latest ominous sign for global oil prices: Western officials are pushing for Libya to boost oil exports, part of an effort to help the country fund its fight against Islamic State. In recent weeks, diplomats from the U.S. and U.K. have met with Libyan militia officials to urge them to restart crude shipments from long-closed ports, militia and Western officials said. The meetings with a convalescing militia leader in Istanbul and his rivals in Tunis, Tunisia, seem to have paid …