BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Eastern Libyan forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar took over the El-Sharara oilfield on Wednesday, an official in the force said.
The 315,000-barrels a day oilfield has been closed since December when tribesmen and state security forces seized it to make payment and development demands.
Haftar is a dominant figure in the east where his Libyan National Army (LNA) in 2017 seized the second-largest city of Benghazi by expelling Islamist and other fighters.
"Our forces arrived safely at the field," a spokesman for the forces, Ahmed Mismari, told a news conference.
No more details were immediately available and state oil firm NOC had no immediate comment on the field, which is located deep in Libya’s south had been previously formally belong to the Tripoli -based internationally recognised government.
Haftar's forces are allied to a parallel administration based in eastern Libya. His LNA faction last month started a military offensive in eastern Libya to fight militants and secure the region’s oilfields.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli: Writing by Ulf Lessing; Editing by Alexander Smith)