On 17 March, a fire hit the pipeline supplying Zawiyya refinery, the causes of which were unknown. The pipeline was shut down, and maintenance teams were sent in to inspect the damage.
In the early hours of 18 March, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) officially acknowledged the incident and announced that the cause of the fire was a leak at a valve on the crude oil export pipeline, at kilometre 538 near the Bir al-Marhan area in Hamada, south of Zintan. No casualties were reported. The NOC also noted that ‘production at the Sharara field continues after pumping was gradually diverted to the El-Feel field pipeline to the Mellitah port, while the remaining portion was diverted via the Hamada pipeline (18 inches) to the Zawiyya storage tanks.’
Later the same day, the NOC Chairman Massoud Suleiman announced that fires were still burning at the export pipeline and that civil defense forces were continuing their efforts to extinguish the blaze. He said that a specialised technical committee had been created to identify the circumstances around the incident, assess the damage, and submit the necessary recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. Akakus Oil Operations issued two updates confirming that firefighting operations were still ongoing.
On 19 March, the NOC announced ‘full control of the fire’, praising the efforts of the technical teams involved in the maintenance works. A few hours later, the NOC issued another statement confirming that the fire ‘has been completely extinguished and the cooling phase is currently underway’ at Sharara. Maintenance teams would begin assessing the damage shortly, after which maintenance and repair work will commence immediately. It also noted that production at the Sharara field did not completely cease due to this incident, as approximately 50% of the field’s production capacity (around 300,000bpd) continued to be operational.
On 22 March, Suleiman told Bloomberg that Sharara field had increased crude shipments to 160,000 bpd via Mellitah and Zawiyya ports. He said the pipeline fire is now under control, damage is being assessed, and production will ramp up gradually.
Questions about the cause of the fire remain active however, amid reports of sabotage. On 19 March, reports circulated on Libyan and international media citing sources claiming that the incident at Sharara could be the result of sabotage by militias active in the Zintan and Jebel Nefusa area, amid ongoing local tensions and competition for control of energy infrastructure. Unverified photos shared online appear to show extensive damage to the pipeline as well as an exploded shell.