Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has declared a force majeure at the Sharara oil field after militia seized it over the weekend.

It blamed ‘civilians’ attached to the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), alleging physical threats were made to oilfield employees to get them to halt production.

The shutdown of Sharara will result in a daily loss of 315,000 barrels a day, with an additional loss of 73,000 barrels at El Feel due to its dependence on Sharara for electricity supply.