What happened

Personnel from Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard blocked the main gates of the Zawiya refinery and the adjacent Brega Petroleum Marketing Company on 21 September, preventing employees and technicians from entering and disrupting the handover from the night shift. Access to Brega was later partially restored, but the refinery's main gate remained closed when the National Oil Corporation issued its statement on 22 September. NOC said the facility could not safely resume normal operations and warned that a prolonged blockade could completely paralyse the complex, disrupt domestic fuel supply and reduce state revenue. The protesters' demands were not established in the reviewed reporting. This access blockade is distinct from the August drone attacks on the Zawiya oil complex and from the concurrent Sharara pipeline-valve closure recorded separately.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.