Armed group shuts Libya's largest oil field pipeline, jeopardising exports

An unnamed armed group shut a valve on a pipeline from Libya's largest oil field, causing a drop in production, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said late Monday. The disruption threatens production from the El Sharara field, a key source of crude for Libya, an OPEC member that holds Africa's largest proven oil reserves. Armed groups and protesters frequently target oil fields, pipelines and export terminals to press political or economic demands. The NOC said in a statement that the closure affected a pipeline linking the El Sharara field, some 700 kilometres south of Tripoli, to the coastal city of Zawiya, home to one of the country's main export terminals. It did not name the group responsible.