US welcomes the resumption of oil production at Libya’s largest oil field

The US Embassy in Libya welcome the resumption of production at the al-Sharara oil field, the country’s largest oil field, and called on all of Libya’s warring parties to reject the militarization of the energy sector.

“Now is the time for all responsible parties to reject attempts to militarize the energy sector & subjugate critical infrastructure to foreign interests,” tweeted the embassy on Sunday.

The restart of the field, which is operated as a joint venture between the National Oil Corp. and Total SA, Repsol SA, OMV AG and Equinor ASA, follows the fall-back from western Libya of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

Libya has been gripped by ongoing war between the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and the LNA.

On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdul Fatteh al-Sisi announced the Cairo Initiative peace plan, backed by Haftar.

However, media reports said that the GNA and its Turkish backers rejected the plan on Sunday.