Libya’s El Sharara oilfield has resumed operations and will increase output gradually, state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Tuesday, in another breakthrough for the government to end the wave of protests at oil facilities. The 340,000 barrel-a-day field in the remote southwest and its connecting pipelines have been blocked several times since the autumn by protesters making financial and political demands, part of a nationwide blockades of fields and oil ports. In May, the NOC’s production head said the field may take months to reach full output once protests end, as at least 20 pumps inside wells needed to be replaced. Last week, a group of rebels in the volatile east agreed to hand over the major eastern Ras Lanuf and Es Sider oil ports, ending an almost year-long protest. “El Sharara will return to production after the pipelines were opened,” said NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari, adding that pumping had started at 1400 local time. He said Libya’s output was 327,000 bpd, a fraction of the 1.4 million barrels a day the OPEC member used to pump last summer when the protests started. On Sunday, the NOC lifted force majeure from the Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports after rebels agreed to end a blockade. The waiver of contractual obligations was imposed last summer. Disputes over Libya’s vast oil resources have been among the many triggers for conflict between rival brigades of former rebels and allied political factions since civil war ended four decades of Muammar Gaddafi one-man rule in 2011.