Petroleum Facilities Guard Shuts Hamada–Zawiya Pipeline Valve, Halting Hamada and Tahara Fields as NOC Warns of Force Majeure

Libya's National Oil Corporation said Tuesday, September 15, 2026 that members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) — the force tasked with protecting oil infrastructure, currently under the Defense Ministry — closed a valve on the main Hamada–Zawiya crude-loading pipeline, completely halting production at the Hamada and Tahara fields in the Ghadames Basin and shutting down an associated pumping station. The PFG said the closure was meant to press demands that it be transferred administratively and financially from the Defense Ministry to the NOC, and called on the prime ministry and NOC to set a clear implementation timetable. NOC condemned the closure as illegal and said it may declare force majeure if the valve is not reopened or if other fields are subjected to similar forced shutdowns, warning that oil-field closures are 'a devastating blow to the national economy' given petroleum accounts for roughly 90% of it. No production or casualty figures beyond the field/pumping-station halt were disclosed.