Category: Libya

BAGHDAD — Car bombs exploded outside the embassies of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in Tripoli, Libya , early on Thursday, apparently in a backlash against the two countries for their role in a regional proxy war playing out in Libya. No one was wounded in the blasts, according to officials. The embassies were closed months ago, and the bombs exploded early in the morning. A day earlier, bombs in the eastern Libyan cities of Tobruk and Baida killed at least five people and wounded at least 20. All four blasts appeared to be part of the same civil conflict and regional tug of war. Three years after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , Libya has collapsed into a violent struggle for power between two rival coalitions of militias and tribes. The side that controls Tripoli includes hard-line and more moderate Islamists, as well as non-Islamist regional […]

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Libya , holder of Africa ’s largest crude reserves, is resuming output at its biggest oil field even as operations at some export terminals are disrupted. The Sharara and Elephant fields in southwestern Libya will restart production by today after gunmen returned equipment they had stolen from the sites, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by telephone yesterday from Tripoli. Crude shipments from the eastern Hariga terminal remain halted, said Ihab Said, an inspector at the facility. Two other export ports, Es Sider and Mellitah, were shut last week because of bad weather, three traders with knowledge of the matter said Nov. 7. Loadings at Hariga were affected by worker strikes, according to two traders. Es Sider, Libya’s largest port, has capacity for 340,000 barrels a day of crude, while Mellitah can handle 160,000 barrels and Hariga can ship 110,000 barrels. Libya is seeking to […]

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Libya , holder of Africa ’s largest crude reserves, is resuming output at its biggest oil field even as operations at some export terminals are disrupted. The Sharara and Elephant fields in southwestern Libya will restart production by today after gunmen returned equipment they had stolen from the sites, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by telephone yesterday from Tripoli. Crude shipments from the eastern Hariga terminal remain halted, said Ihab Said, an inspector at the facility. Two other export ports, Es Sider and Mellitah, were shut last week because of bad weather, three traders with knowledge of the matter said Nov. 7. Loadings at Hariga were affected by worker strikes, according to two traders. Es Sider, Libya’s largest port, has capacity for 340,000 barrels a day of crude, while Mellitah can handle 160,000 barrels and Hariga can ship 110,000 barrels. Libya is seeking to […]

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Libya will resume pumping crude “soon” at Sharara, its biggest oil field, after an attack that halted output, reducing the North African nation’s production by almost a third, an official said. Sharara was shut as a precaution after gunmen stormed the on-site production compound, Mansur Abdallah, director of oil movement at the Zawiya refinery and oil port, said in a telephone interview. “The armed group left after stealing the cars, and production should resume soon,” he said. The oil field is 720 kilometers (450 miles) south of Zawiya, and the two sites are connected by a pipeline. While it has a similar capacity to the Waha field in central Libya, Sharara is the nation’s largest producer, with an output of 290,000 barrels a day before the latest shutdown, Abdallah said. Libya, which is trying to restore output after more than a year of political unrest and violence, produced 850,000 […]

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Libyan conflict and lower oil prices forces Austrian energy company OMV to reconsider pace of investments. UPITarek Alhuony. VIENNA, Nov. 6 (UPI) — A slowdown in Libyan output, coupled with declining oil prices, means it’s time to review the pace of investments, the head Austria’s OMV said Thursday. The oil and gas company said it would focus more on exploration and production moving forward, while streamlining some of its refinery operations. The decline in oil prices, in addition to less-than-ideal production growth from Libya, gave Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss something to consider . "In order to reflect a more challenging operating environment, especially the softness in the oil price together with the unpredictability of our Libyan production, which is adversely impacting the Group’s cash flow, we have decided to review the pace of our investment program for the next two to three years," he said in a statement. […]

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By their unseemly alliances with jihadis, Libya’s Islamists are courting disaster Retired general Khalifa Haftar ©EPA F or months the international community has been acting as if both sides in Libya’s multi-faceted civil war  are equally to blame for the unfolding tragedy, in effect justifying standing back and doing nothing, much like in Syria. Such even-handedness is symptomatic of the failings of international policy with regard to Libya, reflecting an exasperation with the complexity of the conflict that could potentially lead to further disastrous results. More On this topic Allure of Isis attracts Libya’s jihadis Fighting erupts between Libyan factions Libyan Islamists push hardline agenda Shared heritage helps drive Turkish business despite Libyan risk Global Insight Synod setback shows Pope’s limitations US experts fear Russia sanctions blowback India’s Congress party stares into the abyss Turkey struggles with Isis reverberations Governments of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy issued […]

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Libya’s warring factions have pledged to keep the North African country’s crude flowing, putting pressure on other OPEC nations to curb output when the group supplying 40 percent of the world’s oil meets next month. Libya’s production has risen even as violence and political disputes have left the country under the rule of two competing administrations: the internationally recognized government of Abdulla al-Theni and the Islamist-led cabinet of Omar al-Hassi. Both authorities are seeking to keep oil output stable as various militias battle for influence. “It is almost beyond me that the Libyans managed to maintain production, considering that there is no government, and with all these militias,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S, said in an interview Oct. 20 in Dubai. “It is almost a miracle that they managed to get back production to where they have managed to get it back to.” Libya, […]

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Austrian energy company OMV says production from Libya on the rebound. UPI/Mohamaad Hosam "Production levels in the third quarter of 2014 increased by 5 percent versus the second quarter as production in Libya partially resumed," the company said in its report. In its report for the second quarter, OMV said much of its Libyan assets were shut in by violence and the security situation there remained difficult. OMV’s statement follows a condemnation of the latest violence from the governments of France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. "Libya’s hard fought freedom is at risk if Libyan and international terrorist groups are allowed to use Libya as a safe haven," their Saturday statement read. Forces loyal to former Gen. Khalifa Haftar last week tried to reclaim the restive city of Benghazi from Islamist militias. At least 12 people died as a result of the violence . In […]

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TOBRUK, LIBYA — A Libyan general who has led a six-month campaign to rid the country of Islamists sharply escalated his attacks on Benghazi on Wednesday, with a concerted ground assault and airstrikes — pledging to give up command if he succeeds. Gun battles raged in several parts of the city throughout the day to an extent not seen since the general, Khalifa Hifter, 71, began his campaign six months ago, before a backlash by Islamist militias — some of them hard-liners like Ansar Al Sharia — forced his soldiers and their allies to retreat to the outskirts of Benghazi. In a televised address announcing the assault, General Hifter , who calls his campaign Operation Dignity, declared that his men “are now ready to reach their most important goal for this phase, which is the liberation of the city of Benghazi.” His latest advance is part of a sharp […]

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About 100,000 people have fled fighting near the capital, Tripoli, in the past three weeks, adding to a growing problem of internal displacement, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday. “With fighting among rival armed groups intensifying in a number of areas of Libya, we are seeing growing displacement, now estimated at 287,000 people in 29 cities and towns countrywide,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. The main area of recent displacement is around Warshefana, a suburb of Tripoli, and about 15,000 have fled from fighting around the Benina area outside Benghazi, it said. Most displaced people are living with local families but others are sleeping in schools, parks and nonresidential buildings converted into emergency shelters.

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