"Both parties called for a cessation of hostilities and armed conflict in and around the facility, essential to resume production operations," it said of Thursday's talks.

The North African nation's biggest field is a focus of the conflict between the Tripoli-based internationally recognised government and a rival administration based in eastern Libya.

Protesters and tribesmen halted production at the Repsol-operated field, located in southern Libya, in December.

The eastern-based government dispatched a force to seize the field on Wednesday.

Oil production in Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has been disrupted since the armed uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.