Libya’s oil production has tumbled to about 230,000 barrels per day after armed groups shut down the el-Sharara oil field in the Murzuq desert in the southwest, adding to a crippling seven-month oil crisis centered in the rebellious east. The shutdown of el-Sharara, one of Libya’s biggest fields with a normal output of 340,000 bpd, was a serious setback to efforts by the problem-plagued transitional government to push national production back to the 1.4 million bpd it achieved last summer. But about 2 1/2 years after Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was driven from power in a NATO-backed uprising, the North African producer remains mired in lawlessness and anarchy, with the government powerless to restore stability or control dozens of heavily armed militias and tribal groups. The current production level marked a significant decline from the 370,000 bpd the National Oil Corp. announced last […]