TRIPOLI, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Ambassadors of France, Italy, Britain and the United States on Saturday welcomed the lifting of force majeure at Libya's largest oil field, Al-Sharara oil field, by the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC).
The ambassadors welcomed the decision to lift the force majeure and "immediately resume production at the crucial Al-Sharara oil field," said a joint statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Libya.
"We commend the leadership of United Nations (UN) Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Ghassan) Salame and the UN Support Mission in Libya in promoting security arrangements that have allowed the NOC to resume its vital work on behalf of all Libyans," the statement said.
The statement stressed importance for Libyan resources to be exclusively controlled by the NOC and the Libyan army "as outlined in UN Security Council Resolutions 2259 (2015), 2278 (2016), and 2362 (2017)."
The NOC recently decided to lift the state of force majeure in Al-Sharara oil field after the eastern-based army controlling the field pledged to expel gunmen from the field and implement additional security measures.
The corporation also confirmed that production in the field will be resumed and proper maintenance will be carried out.
In December last year, the NOC declared force majeure at Al-Sharara following forced closure of the field by an armed group.The eastern-based Libyan army announced earlier in February its takeover of the oil field, which is located some 900 km south of the capital Tripoli and has the capability of producing over 300,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
