The El Sharara oil field is an

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

located in

Murzuq Desert The Murzuq Desert, Idehan Murzuq, or Idhan Murzuq (also Murzaq, Murzuk, Marzuq and Murzak), is an erg in southwestern Libya with a surface of approximately 58,000 km2. It is named after the town of Murzuk in the Fezzan region. Like the Idehan Ub ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. It was discovered in 1980 and developed by

Petrom OMV Petrom S.A. is a Romanian integrated oil company, controlled by Austria's OMV. It is one of the largest corporations in Romania and the largest oil and gas producer in Southeast Europe. Since 2004 it is a subsidiary of OMV. With 2022 reve ...

. The oil field, Libya's largest, is operated and owned by

Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31Originally an init ...

. The total

proven reserves Proven reserves (also called measured reserves, 1P, and reserves) is a measure of fossil fuel energy reserves, such as oil and gas reserves and coal reserves. It is defined as the "quantity of energy sources estimated with reasonable certaint ...

of the El Sharara oil field are 3 billion barrels (403 million tonnes), and production is centered on . On January 7, 2024, production at the oil field was briefly suspended after protesters from the nearby town of

Ubari Ubari or Awbari () is an oasis town and the capital of the Wadi al Hayaa District, in the Fezzan region of southwestern Libya. It is in the Idehan Ubari, a Libyan section of the Sahara Desert. It was the capital of the former ''baladiyah'' (dis ...

forced the facility to close over fuel shortages.

References

Oil fields of Libya {{Libya-geo-stub