NOC chairman says Libya has discussed prevailing crisis with Repsol executives

Libya's state-run National Oil Corp said on Saturday that its Chairman Mustafa Sanalla had discussed a crisis at the Sharara oil field with Repsol executives in Tripoli. "Both parties called for a cessation of hostilities and armed conflict in and around the facility, essential to resume production operations," it said of Thursday's talks. The North African nation's biggest field is a focus of the conflict between the Tripoli-based internationally recognised government and a rival administration based in eastern Libya.

Protesters and tribesmen halted production at the Repsol-operated field, located in southern Libya, in December. The eastern-based government dispatched a force to seize the field on Wednesday. Oil production in Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has been disrupted since the armed uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

(With inputs from agencies.)