Petroleum Facilities Guards’ Commander, Mohammad Ahmad Alkhbasha, said that the Libyan armed forces, which control some of the country’s southern oilfields, have shutdown the Gulf and  Al Wafa fields, due to  the government’s delay in paying funds needed to maintain security operations. The two fields usually produce around 30,000b/d of light oil condensate,  Reuters reported.

Furthermore, the National Oil Corporation’s CEO (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla, said that “the delays in the budget from Libya’s new government, were undermining oil production, losing the country around 200,000b/d with an estimated loss of $1.56m”, according to Middle East Confidential.

Libya, which holds Africa’s largest oil reserves, has seen its production dip below 300,000b/d because of fighting, strikes and attacks. The country’s peak production was in 2011, at 1.6mb/d, before the fall of Gaddafi. Since then, Libyan oilfields and ports have fallen under the control of rival armed factions allied with two competing governments.