The oil terminal of Marsa al-Hariga in Libya. The political deal that allowed the restart of oil shipments from a port in eastern Libya provides short-term relief for cash-strapped authorities, but is only a small first step in a wider effort to unify the country’s rival factions. Crude exports resumed from the port of Hariga after Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corp., and oil officials based in the east reached an agreement in Vienna earlier this week. Speaking in an interview with local Ajwaa television channel on Friday, Sanalla said he hoped the agreement would lead to “the progressive reopening” of other oil ports including Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, the nation’s largest. A deal on that scale would require Fayez al Serraj, prime minister of the new United Nations-backed unity government in Tripoli, reaching an understanding with authorities in the east. Hardliners there have prevented at […]