Category: Libya

Houston (Platts)–30Jan2015/520 am EST/1020 GMT Crude oil from Libya was imported to refiners in the US Gulf Coast in November for the first time since August 2013, according to data released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration. In November, two Aframaxes arrived in the Gulf Coast from Libya, chartered by BP and Citgo, carrying 32.5 and 36.6 API crude, respectively, and both with a sulfur content of 0.14%, the EIA data showed. The BP-chartered cargo delivered to Oil Tanking PL in Houston carrying 449,000 barrels, while the cargo chartered by Citgo headed to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Citgo owns a 425,000 b/d refinery, contained 552,000 barrels. Platts cFlow ship-tracking software shows the EuroChampion 2004 deported from Ras Lanuf on October 18, and arrived at Offshore Galveston Lighterage on November 5. The Nissos Delos left the port of Marsa el Hariga on October 27, and arrived the Port of […]

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Oil output from Libya, where ports and oilfields have been shut due to fighting, has fallen to 363,000 barrels a day with exports at about 200,000, the oil minister appointed by forces in control of the capital Tripoli told Reuters. Two governments allied to armed factions are vying for control of Libya four years after the toppling of leader Muammar Gaddafi. The United Nations and Western powers do not recognise the administration which controls ministries in Tripoli. Its oil minister, Mashallah Zwai, told Reuters in an interview that Libya is producing 362,780 bpd of oil, showing a report from the National Oil Corp. That is down by half from November, when OPEC member Libya was producing around 750,000 barrels a day, and well below the 1.6 million which the North African country produced in 2010. Zwai said oil revenues would fall to between $10 billion and $12 billion this […]

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BAYDA, Libya — Fighters for one of the factions battling for control of Libya seized the Benghazi branch of the country’s central bank on Thursday, threatening to set off an armed scramble for the bank’s vast stores of money and gold, and cripple one of the last functioning institutions in the country. The central bank is the repository for Libya’s oil revenue and holds nearly $100 billion in foreign currency reserves. It is the great prize at the center of the armed struggles that have raged here since the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Western leaders had hoped that it might play a crucial role in helping to bring the rest of the country back together. Since Libyan rebels toppled Colonel Qaddafi with the help of Western airstrikes, the country has slipped into chaos, as militias grounded in particular locations or ideologies have battled for turf, money […]

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ENLARGE Libya’s El Sharara oil field. The country’s OPEC governor was kidnapped last week in the militia-held capital of Tripoli. Reuters DUBAI—Libya’s OPEC Governor Samir Kamal was kidnapped last week in the militia-held capital of Tripoli, two officials familiar with the matter said Tuesday, as turmoil continues to ravage the north African country almost four years after the collapse of its central government. Mr. Kamal, who is also the head of the planning department at the Tripoli-based government’s oil ministry, was last seen Thursday, said one official at the National Oil Corp., or NOC. “Nobody knows why [he was kidnapped],” the official said. “Some people know where he is,” he added. Another NOC official confirmed that Mr. Kamal was missing, but declined to give further details. No one has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping. Kidnappings have become common in Libya, where oil fields have been seized by armed groups […]

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Libya’s internationally recognized government in the northeastern Tobruk has declared a cease-fire , with U.N.-brokered peace talks set to resume in Geneva next week. The Tobruk government’s rival, the self-declared Fajr Libya (Dawn of Libya) government in Tripoli had declared a truce earlier in the week, but said on Sunday that it would not participated in the talks unless they were held in Libya, but that they were willing to negotiate. Jason Pack from Libya-Analysis.com, speaking to Al Jazeera from London, said that the cease-fire agreement was only moderately promising, adding that while Fajr Libya , which is comprised of several militia groups, had agreed to a truce, many other militia groups operating in the country had not.  "We also do not have both sides of the political leadership of Tripoli represented in Geneva," Pack said, but added that the current situation in Libya was not necessarily a result of […]

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ENLARGE A member of the Libyan army stands on a tank on Dec. 23, 2014. The Libyan army has been battling Islamists who have taken control of much of Tripoli and the country’s second city of Benghazi. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Two crewmen on board a Greek-managed tanker were killed after a Libyan air force plane bombed the vessel while it was anchoring at port, Greek and Libyan officials said Monday, highlighting the turmoil that continues to ravage the north African country almost four years after the collapse of central government authority. The vessel, the Liberian-flagged Araevo, was in the Libyan port of Derna in the east of the country when it was hit by a bomb from the aircraft midday Sunday, in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity. The airstrike killed a 29-year-old Greek cadet engineer and a 23-year-old Romanian seaman. Two other seamen, both Philippine […]

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A Greek-operated oil tanker was bombed near a port in eastern Libya , killing two sailors and underscoring a fresh threat to shipments from the country with Africa ’s biggest crude reserves. The Araevo, bearing a Liberian flag, was struck by a rocket during an airstrike yesterday in front of Derna port, killing two crew members and seriously injuring two others, according to an e-mailed statement from Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp. The attack didn’t result in a leak and the vessel is now in Tobruk port also in the east, Ilias Syrros, the safety manager for Aegean Shipping Enterprises Co., the Piraeus, Greece-based firm operating the tanker, said by phone. Libya is split between the United Nations-recognized government of Abdullah al-Thinni in the east and Islamists who control Tripoli in the west. Al-Thinni’s forces bombed the ship after it failed to provide details on its itinerary, said Ahmad […]

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say an unidentified warplane has bombed a Greek-owned tanker ship in the eastern Libyan port of Darna, killing two crew members and injuring two more. Citing a briefing by the ship’s managers, the Merchant Marine Ministry says the Liberian-flagged Araevo was attacked Sunday while it was anchored in the harbor. Darna is a base for Islamic extremists, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Widespread militia violence has plunged Libya into chaos less than four years after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The Araevo’s crew of 26 consisted of 21 Filipinos, three Greeks and two Romanians. The ministry said Monday the vessel had 12,600 metric tons of fuel on board. Damage is still being assessed.

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Islamic State and Libya Dawn militants beheaded 17 people, 14 of them soldiers, at a checkpoint in southern Libya on Jan. 2, army sources said, Libyan website Al-Wasat reported Jan. 3. The website also said the attack was carried out on members of Battalion 168, which guard the checkpoint on the Sawknah crossroads in the Bu-Shuwayrif municipality. The attack comes as the Islamic State seeks to establish new footholds throughout the region.

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  A fire at Libya’s largest oil port has been extinguished by firefighters, officials said Friday. The blaze at the As Sidra terminal was sparked during a battle between an Islamist militia Continue Reading