Oil production at Libya's Wafa field and gas flows through a key pipeline to Italy resumed Monday after a brief shutdown sparked by a protest from the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The PFG, responsible for securing Libya's oil and gas infrastructure, on Sunday, February 25, closed the Wafa field and the al-Zawiyah export terminal, part of the Greenstream pipeline linking Libya to Italy. The Greenstream pipeline has an annual capacity of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm).

Producing 37,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and 22,000 bpd of natural gas equivalent, the Wafa project, is part of the Mellitah Oil and Gas complex operated by Eni and Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC).

According to the report, the protests, also impacting the Misrata oil storage depot, stemmed from salary concerns and followed an ultimatum issued to the Western Government of National Unity (GNU) on February 15 regarding economic grievances.

Sources reported on February 26 that the closures ended after salary negotiations between the GNU and the PFG, with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh agreeing to adjust the guards' compensation.

This incident highlights the ongoing vulnerability of Libya's oil and gas sector, a vital source of government revenue, to political instability.

The country has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising, with rival administrations in the east and west vying for control. Regular outbreaks of fighting have hampered oil production, which stood at 1.02 million bpd in January, according to S&P Global.

Despite these challenges, the recent lifting of force majeure by international oil companies and renewed exploration activities offer hope for a potential oil sector revival in Libya.