An oil pipeline inspection carried out during Waha Oil’s routine operations detected a leak on the Zaqout-Sidra line in Libya. The company managed to contain the incident in less than 24 hours and subsequently resumed pumping, preventing the disruption from extending further across infrastructure linked to one of the country’s leading crude oil producers.
Waha Oil reported that flow was restored at 4:00 a.m. once the leak had been fully brought under control. The available information does not specify the volume released or identify the mechanism that caused the incident. It has also not been disclosed which inspection method was used to locate the leak or what repair procedure was applied.
The incident is particularly relevant given the scale of the company’s operations. Under normal conditions, Waha maintains daily production typically ranging between 340,000 and 400,000 barrels of oil, according to information previously provided to Reuters by a company source.
Oil pipeline inspection detected the leak during routine operations
The sequence reported by Waha places detection as the first element of the response. The leak was identified during a routine inspection and, following that finding, the company carried out the necessary actions to bring it under control before restoring transportation through the line.
This detail is particularly relevant from an asset integrity perspective because the incident was not presented as a failure discovered after a prolonged disruption. The company indicated that the problem was identified during its regular inspection activities.
However, the information published so far does not make it possible to determine the technical scope of the finding. Waha has not reported whether the leak was associated with corrosion, mechanical damage, a localized anomaly, or another degradation mechanism. The cited statement also provides no public information regarding the dimensions of the defect or the specific characteristics of the section that was repaired.
For that reason, attributing a root cause to the incident or associating its detection with a specific NDT technique would go beyond the confirmed information.
Waha Oil restores pumping after bringing the leak under control
The company concentrated its response within a period of less than 24 hours from detection. After fully bringing the leak under control, Waha reported that pumping through the Zaqout-Sidra line resumed at 4:00 a.m.
The rapid restoration of service limits, at least temporarily, the known operational impact of the incident. However, Waha did not provide an estimate of potential production losses or the volumes that were not transported while repairs were underway.
The importance of maintaining the continuity of this infrastructure is linked to the scale of Waha’s production within Libya’s oil sector. The company is a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and operates as a joint venture with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips.
Its typical production level, ranging between 340,000 and 400,000 bpd, means that any disruption to its transportation systems could have potential significance for the country’s oil operations.
Sidra remains important to Waha’s infrastructure
The incident also comes as the recovery of infrastructure linked to Sidra continues. The National Oil Corporation’s 2025 Annual Report includes, among its storage capacity expansion projects, the replacement of three damaged tanks at the Sidra port storage facility. One of them, Tank 16, has a target capacity of 500,000 barrels.
The rehabilitation of the area is part of a broader process. Previously published industry information indicates that Waha has worked to restore tanks affected by damage sustained at the port during years of instability, seeking to rebuild the capacity required for storage and export operations.
This context does not establish a causal relationship with the current leak, but it helps illustrate the importance of Sidra within the infrastructure supporting Waha’s operations.
Early detection shapes the response to the incident
For now, the Zaqout-Sidra case provides one concrete operational fact: a routine inspection detected a leak, and Waha managed to bring the incident under control in less than 24 hours before restoring pumping.
Determining the technical significance of the incident would require information that has not yet been published, particularly the cause of the leak, the condition of the pipeline, the damage mechanism, and the final scope of the repair.
Until those details become available, the most significant aspect is not to speculate about why the line failed, but rather to examine the documented sequence of detection, intervention, control, and return to service.
In an operation that normally handles hundreds of thousands of barrels per day, the ability to identify an anomaly during a routine activity and respond before restoring transportation demonstrates why inspection remains an essential component of integrity management and operational continuity for pipeline systems.
Sources: Pipeline & Gas Journal / Reuters
