Libya NOC Threatens Force Majeure After Oil Guards Shut Hamada and Tahara Fields – News and Statistics

Sep 16, 2026

Libya’s National Oil Corporation has warned it may invoke force majeure after security personnel assigned to safeguard the nation’s petroleum infrastructure turned off a pipeline valve and brought operations to a standstill at two fields.

According to NOC’s Tuesday statement, output ceased entirely at the Hamada and Tahara oilfields along with a pumping station after Petroleum Facilities Guard members shut a valve on the primary Hamada-Zawiya crude pipeline.

The Petroleum Facilities Guard announced it would enforce partial output reductions for seven days at several other fields, among them Wafa, Al-Khamsa and El Feel. Should its conditions remain unmet, a complete halt would ensue.

The Guard is seeking a financial and administrative transfer from Libya’s defense ministry to the National Oil Corporation, and has requested a schedule for completing that transition.

NOC indicated it might issue a force majeure declaration should the shuttered valve remain closed or should comparable stoppages affect additional oilfields.

Such turmoil is familiar territory for Libya. Since the 2011 revolt that removed Muammar Gaddafi, political blocs, militant groups and laborers have time and again weaponized oilfields, pipelines and terminals as bargaining tools.

This most recent interruption arrives precisely as Libya strives to lift output substantially.

Production has risen to approximately 1.4 million barrels per day, marking its strongest level in over ten years. NOC aims for 1.6 million bpd by the close of 2026 and 2 million bpd by the early 2030s.

Achieving those goals might demand between $36 billion and $40 billion in overseas investment, as stated by NOC Chairman Masoud Suleman.

Foreign firms have already begun re-entering. This year Libya concluded exploration and production-sharing accords with Repsol, Turkish Petroleum, Eni, QatarEnergy and MOL, following its first significant licensing round in 17 years. BP, Shell, Exxon and Chevron have likewise been seeking a comeback.

Under Libya’s 2026 budget, NOC obtained a $2 billion allotment to bolster its output objectives.

The underlying issue predates the current investment drive by far: oilfields with greater production capacity remain exposed to whoever commands the valve.