Libya's Sarir oil field has been shut down, due to the postponement of exports from the eastern Marsa el-Hariga terminal which have been closed by a subsidiary of the Petroleum Facilities Guard protesting over non-payment of salaries.

The protest which began last week Wednesday, has resulted in the delay of two oil tankers at the port which has an export capacity of about 120,000 barrels per day and has also resulted in the shutting in of about 100,000 bpd production from the Sarir oil field.

A 700,000 bbl cargo was supposed to load at the terminal on the 15th July, but the tanker was not allowed to enter the port.

Agoco operates the Messla and Sarir field, which was producing about 180,000 bpd as at last week from the 230,000 bpd being produced at the beginning of April.

Output from the two fields is supplied to small refineries in Tobruk and Sarir, which have capacities of 20,000 b/d and 10,000 b/d, respectively.

According to an official in the company, the shutting down of the field began on Sunday night, with output slightly reduced before being stopped completely on Monday.

The Messla field however, is still producing around 70,000 bpd but if the postponing of loadings continues for a long time, production from the field would also have to be reduced to about 15,000 -20,000 bpd within days, thereby resulting in a limited storage capacity at Hariga, Argus news reports.

Anita Fatunji