The field was a joint opperation between the NOC and Eni, producing 70,000 barrels per day (b/d) previous to the force majeure.

Islamic State militants clashed with a force guarding Libya's Es Sider oil port, and fighting continued near the major export terminal.

Libya has begun exporting oil again from the eastern terminal of Zueitina after production restarted at a nearby oil field, Libyan oil officials said Thursday, in a rare sign of progress in that country’s embattled industry.

Fighting between rival militias resumed close to Libya’s largest oil port on Tuesday, while Islamic State claimed another attack in Tripoli, as the country further descends into lawlessness.

WTI crude (CLH5: $51.2 +3.2%) and Brent crude (LCOH5: $56.7 +3.6%) are trading higher for a third day as they continue to find support from the strike action at refineries in the US and a slump in Libyan exports. The potential for reduced supplies of motor fuel have led to strong rallies in gasoline and gas oil, which have in turn supported crude oil.

Libya’s OPEC Governor Samir Kamal was kidnapped last week in the militia-held capital of Tripoli, two officials familiar with the matter said Tuesday, as turmoil continues to ravage the north African country almost four years after the collapse of its central government.

Wintershall has now restarted oil production in the Libyan Desert again in concessions 96 and 97. The company had suspended and sealed off production operations in the eight onshore oil fields around 1,000 kilometers south-east of Tripoli in February 2011 in view of the political situation and for security reasons.