France’s Total SA said Tuesday it had started pulling out some expatriate employees from Tripoli as the worst clashes in the Libyan capital in six months start affecting the oil industry. The new challenge to the country’s most strategic sector suggests a Libyan oil-production recovery that has pushed crude prices lower may still be fraught with risk. A spokeswoman for Total told The Wall Street Journal it had opened a Malta office this year “to adapt the number of expatriates present in Tripoli to the evolution of the security situation. That’s what we are currently doing given the situation in the airport.” A Libyan official said the French company is now considering a force majeure on its operations in the country. The Total spokeswoman said no force majeure has been decided. A force majeure offers legal protection to a company if exceptional circumstances limits its ability to fullfil its […]