BENGHAZI, Libya- Libya's internationally recognised Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj flew to the southern El Sharara oilfield on Wednesday to meet protesters who have shut down the facility, a government source and a protester said.
No more details were immediately available. Officials in the prime minister's office could not be reached for comment.
Officials have been trying to convince the protesters, who include tribesmen demanding development and guards seeking payments, to reopen the 315,000 barrel per day facility, Libya's biggest oilfield.
In another apparent bid to appease the protesters, the Tripoli government approved a development fund worth 1 billion Libyan dinars ($717 million) for the long neglected south, a decree said.
El Sharara crude is transported to the Zawiya port, which is also home to a refinery.
NOC runs the field with Spain's Repsol, France's Total, Austria's OMV and Norway's Equinor, formerly known as Statoil.
($1 = 1.3939 Libyan dinars)
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli Writing by Ulf Laessing Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair) ((Ulf.Laessing@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: follow me on twitter @ulflaessing))
