Category: Libya

The reopening of the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports in eastern Libya remains in limbo as the government appears to be backing away from a deal with rebels negotiated by ousted Prime Minister Ali Zidan, the US ambassador to Libya said Tuesday. "We have no way of knowing" if the ports would reopen, Ambassador Deborah Jones said in a conference call with US businesses considering investing in Libya. "I’m not terribly optimistic in large part because there was not a lot of buy-in in the General National Council, their parliament, for the terms of the deal." Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, which have a combined capacity of 560,000 b/d, have been closed since rebels seeking more autonomy took over the ports last August. Article continues below… Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream […]

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After a long search, Libya’s transitional Parliament appeared to have finally selected a new prime minister on Sunday, choosing Ahmed Maitiq, a businessman, during a chaotic legislative session. But almost as soon Continue Reading

Gunmen attacked a security forces headquarters in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi early Friday, killing nine people and wounding 24, authorities said, blaming an Islamic extremist group allegedly behind the attack of a U.S. diplomatic post there. A security official said the attack started when dozens of gunmen opened fire with machine guns and mortars. The onslaught lasted for an hour, with the fighting heard miles away. Libyan commandos later arrived and fought the attackers, though the official said they suffered heavy casualties. A statement issued by the interim government and read by Cabinet spokesman Ahmed al-Amin put the death toll at nine people. Milad al-Zowi, a commando spokesman, said the dead were six army commandos and three police officers. Al-Zowe said that three soldiers and a police officer were missing after the battle. A local hospital official said some of the slain troops were […]

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Libya opened the way for oil exports to resume from the eastern port of Zueitina by revoking a legal clause known as force majeure after rebels returned the terminal to government control earlier this month. The 70,000 barrel-a-day facility is ready to receive tankers for loading, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman of state-run National Oil Corp., said today in a text message. An agreement reached on April 6 provided for the rebels to hand over control of Zueitina and Hariga, two of the four ports they seized in July, in return for an official amnesty and salary payments claimed by defectors from Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard. “It seems the government has been making a renewed effort for progress,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London , said by e-mail. “It still seems to be a complicated situation on the ground, and the market will want to see a […]

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A rebel group in eastern Libya that controls several oil ports said on Thursday it would not reopen the key Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals unless the government implemented its part of a recent deal to end the oil blockade. In a sign of further delays to restart vital oil exports from the volatile east, rebels said the Tripoli government had failed to fulfill its part of the accord reached this month. Diplomats expect both sides to implement the deal eventually as the country badly needs the oil revenue but tactical maneuvers and mutual mistrust are likely to cause delays. The row is part of chaos in the North African country where the government cannot control militias who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but have held on to their weapons to make political and financial demands by seizing oilfields or government ministries. "The government […]

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Libya’s oil production is currently around 220,000 barrels a day as several western oilfields remain closed due to protests, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Tuesday. The El Sharara, El Feel fields and oil condensates production at the Wafa field were still shut down, NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said. Libya’s oil production was 1.4 million bpd until July when a wave of protests at oilfields and ports started across the North African country. There were indications that a protest at the 340,000 bpd-El Sharara field might end but there were still issues with the pipeline where a separate protest had taken place in the past, El Harari said. A decision has also yet to be made on when the eastern Zueitina port might reopen, he said. The government reached an agreement with rebels in the east to reopen the 70,000 bpd-Zueitina and three […]

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Libyan Justice Minister Salah al-Mergahani said the Zueitina oil terminal in the east of the country remains closed because of technical problems.Eastern rebel leaders vying for more autonomy over a region known as Cyrenaica blocked the export terminals of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina in July. The Libyan government in early April reached a deal with eastern rebel leaders to re-open the ports. Merghani said, however, the long closure meant operations couldn’t return to normal. "There is some damage (at Zueitina port) due to the long closure," he said Sunday. Libya before civil war erupted in 2011 was exporting more than 1.4 million bpd. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said member state Libya produced less than 300,000 bpd in March, the last full month for which data are available. The justice minister said the central government and rebel negotiators were still at odds over who would sit […]

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Libya’s oil sector may be able to make up for losses incurred by a rebel blockade as soon as production and export levels return to normal, a spokesman said. The central government in Tripoli brokered a deal April 6 with eastern rebel leaders to re-open export terminals. An eight-month blockade from rebels seeking more autonomy for the region known as Cyrenaica cut Libya’s oil export potential drastically. Mohamed al-Harari, a spokesman for Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp., told pan-Arab daily news agency Asharq al-Awsat the ports of Ras Lanuf and Sidra could open next month following further talks with rebel leaders. "Talks must resume to open the remaining ports," he said in an interview published Thursday. "We have suffered great losses from this [crisis], but we will be able to make up these losses once production and export levels are back to normal." The re-opened ports, Zuetina and Harega, […]

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An oil tanker started loading crude at Libya ’s eastern port of Hariga as the region exports oil for the first time since July after civil unrest decimated the North African country’s production and shipments. The Aegean Dignity started to load Hariga terminal at 11 a.m. local time, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone today. The operation will take about 24 hours. The shipment is for Italy , according to a statement from NOC subsidiary Arabian Gulf Oil. “This is the first loading in around nine months from any of the rebel-controlled ports in the east and the first concrete positive from the deals announced just over a week ago,” Richard Mallinson, Energy Aspects analyst in London , said by phone yesterday. “But it is worth remembering that the market is only taking this as a very limited positive development” because other terminals remain […]

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Libya’s state-owned oil company said operations resumed at the western Zawiya oil terminal after protesters ended a blockade. More Libyan crude oil is expected to arrive on the international market after the central government brokered a deal with eastern rebel leaders to open export terminals there last week. Libya has struggled to return to its pre-civil war production level of 1.6 million barrels per day. Market tensions over energy security in Eastern Europe were countered by prospects even more Libyan oil would come from the Zawiya oil port in the west of the country. The International Monetary Fund said the Libyan energy sector represents about $63 billion to the government, a majority in terms of percentage of gross domestic product. In March, a progress report on Libya from the European Commission said a blockade on oil exports by eastern federalists has "severely" affected Libya’s fiscal situation. [ BBC ] […]

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