Coronavirus: Confirmed case forces evacuation of staff from al-Charara oil field in southwest Libya

31 Août 2020

Tripoli, Libya, August 31 (Infosplusgabon) - Oil exploration company, Akakus, has started evacuating staff from the al-Charara field (southwest 300,000 b/d), one of the largest oil fields in Libya, after a case of coronavirus infection was recorded among oil site personnel, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Libyan National Petroleum Company, Mustafa Sanalla.

As a result of this development, Sanalla has closed down operations there.

He said this decision follows the discovery of an emerging coronavirus infection among a foreign employee after "contacting elements of the oil facility guard, who ignored precautionary measures to prevent the virus and entered the field by force".

Mr Sanalla explained that the case will lead to the suspension of fuel supply to the gas plant in Oubari (south), in addition to the theft and looting of the field.

He continued: "We no longer have the authority to apply preventive measures against the coronavirus," noting that "the recurrence of such incidents endangers the lives of workers in the sector, and makes it almost impossible to carry out their work.

The director pointed out that some guards at the facilities, under the command of the southern region, al-Mabrouk Sahban, entered the accommodation reserved for employees and resided there, requesting that the field management provides 150 meals to the accompanying convoy, desspite the austerity and severe budget shortages that all companies in the sector are going through because of the lack of availability of funds due to the forced closure of oil fields and ports.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AFD/GABON2020

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