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Libya's Oil Exports Grind to Halt as Haftar's Army Block Eastern Terminals - NOC

© AFP 2023 / Abdullah DomaA Libyan security member walks by an oil drill on March 23, 2013 at the al-Ghani oil field, near the city of Waddan in the central Al-Jufrah province.
A Libyan security member walks by an oil drill on March 23, 2013 at the al-Ghani oil field, near the city of Waddan in the central Al-Jufrah province. - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Libya's oil exports have come to a virtual standstill after Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) blocked the remaining oil ports of Hariga and Zuwaytinah in a bid to wrestle control over the war-torn country's oil exports from the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the latter said Monday.

"Despite our warning of the consequences and attempts to reason with the LNA General Command, two legitimate allocations were blocked from loading at Hariga and Zuetina this weekend. The storage tanks are full and production will now go offline," NOC head Mustafa Sanalla was quoted as saying in a company statement.

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In late June, Haftar's forces started seizing the so-called oil crescent and soon declared full control over the area stretching from Tobruk to Sidr, including the port in Ras Lanuf. The LNA said control would be handed over to the eastern government based in Tobruk instead of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

In Monday's statement, NOC said production losses amounted to some 850,000 barrels per day, wiping out nearly all of Libya's output. The corporation, which has so far dominated Libya's energy sector and is the main internationally recognized exporter of oil from the North African country, warned of massive supply disruptions and revenue losses due to the LNA campaign.

READ MORE: Libyan Haftar-Led Forces Retook Sidr, Ras Lanuf Ports From Militants — Reports

"The total daily revenue loss associated with the shutdown is estimated at $67.4 million. The financial loss to the public purse since the attack on Es Sidra and Ras Lanuf on 14 June by Ibrahim Jadhran is more than $650 million," the company said, calling on the LNA to end the blockade, and stressing that it was the only Libyan entity entitled to explore, produce and export oil.

READ MORE: Scholar Explains How Conflict-Torn Libya Could Find a Political Solution

The Tobruk government and the UN-recognized GNA have been the two main entities governing Libya since the GNA was established in 2015. Prior to that, the west of the country was under the control of the General National Congress. The duality emerged in the aftermath of the overthrow of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 in the course of the Libyan Civil War.

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