Oil prices witnessed a surge on January 20 after Libya’s El Shahara and El Feel oilfields have been shut down, leading to halting the country’s production, according to Pipeline Oil and Gas News.

Libya’s national oil company (NOC) declared that the country’s exports have been halted from Brega, Ras Lanuf, Hariga, Zueitina, and Sidra ports.

Recently, El Shahara and El Feel oilfields were closed and the NOC condemned the blockade, commented that “shutting down oil exports and production will have far-reaching and predictable consequences.”

The embargo means that the daily production of 800,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), worth $55 million a day will be affected, NOC said in a statement. In addition to this, the Brent crude oil rose to approximately $65.68 per barrel intraday.

“If the fields are shut, the production loss will be immediate. We have limited available storage at our main ports. If they are closed, we will need to reduce production immediately and to shut down entirely when available storage is filled. That could be in as little as five days,” said NOC chairman, Mustafa Sanalla.