*

No confirmation from recognised government or NOC

*

Waha Oil says plans to reduce output gradually

*

No orders to reduce output yet, two sources tell Reuters

*

Tensions over central bank, bank says suspending

operations

*

Force majeure declared at Sharara earlier citing protests

(Adds central bank temporarily halting services, paragraphs

11-14)

By Ayman Werfali

BENGHAZI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The government in eastern

Libya announced on Monday that all oilfields would be closed

down and production and exports halted, while there was no word

from the country's internationally recognised government in

Tripoli.

The National Oil Corp (NOC), which controls the country's

oil resources, also provided no confirmation.

NOC subsidiary Waha Oil Company, however, announced it

planned to gradually reduce output and warned of a complete halt

to production citing "protests and pressures".

Waha, which operates a joint venture with TotalEnergies

and ConocoPhillips ( COP ), has a production capacity

of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) which is exported through

the eastern port of Es Sider.

It operates five main fields in the southeast including Waha

which produces more than 100,000 bpd as well as Gallo, Al-Fargh,

Al-Samah and Al-Dhahra.

Most of Libya's oilfields are in the east, which is under

the control of Khalifa Haftar who leads the Libyan National Army

(LNA).

The Benghazi government did not specify for how long the

oilfields could be closed.

Two engineers at Messla and Abu Attifel told Reuters on

Monday that production was continuing and there had been no

orders to halt output.

POWER STRUGGLE

Libyan factions are locked in a power struggle over control

of the central bank and the country's oil revenue.

The latest round of tensions emerged after efforts by

political factions to oust the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) head

Sadiq al-Kabir, with rival armed factions mobilising on each

side.

The Tripoli-based CBL said on Monday that it suspended its

services at home and abroad "due to exceptional disturbance".

The central bank is the only internationally recognised

depository for Libyan oil revenue, which provide vital economic

income for the country.

"The Central Bank of Libya hopes that its ongoing

efforts in cooperation with all relevant authorities will allow

it to resume its normal activity without further delay," it said

in a statement.

It temporarily shut down all operations last week after

a senior bank official was kidnapped but

resumed operations

the next day after the official was released.

A major oil producer, Libya has had little stability since a

2011 NATO-backed uprising. It split in 2014 with eastern and

western factions that eventually drew in Russian and Turkish

backing.

The NOC declared force majeure earlier this month at one of

the country's largest oilfields, Sharara, located in Libya's

southwest with a capacity of 300,000 bpd, due to protests.

Libya's oil production before Sharara's closure stood at

about 1.2 million bpd.

El Feel in southwestern Libya would be the only functioning

oilfield, with a capacity of 130,000 bpd, if production is

halted in the east.