(Ecofin Agency) - A local group of Libya's petroleum guard has prohibited production from restarting at the El Feel oil field. This is coming two days after protesters ended a two-year blockade on two of the country’s key oil pipeline.

According to an employee of Mellitah Oil and Gas which exports oil from the field, the local group from Tebu who watches over the field is preventing the field from reopening, Reuters reports.

“El Feel oil field is not operating yet because the petroleum facilities guards from the Tebu who guard the field rejected the reopening. Although we carried out a start-up process last night, we were surprised by the PFG,” said the employee.

The scope of deals to restart production from the fields is uncertain but officials and analysts have said that any increase to output will be gradual and insubstantial due to technical problems and Libya's current political turmoil.

The country’s oil production increased to about 600,000 bpd since September, when the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) took over several blockaded ports and later allowed the NOC to reopen them. But production remains far below the 1.6 million bpd Libya produced before its 2011 uprising.

Anita Fatunji