Category: Libya

MALTA—Libya’s internationally recognized government may block exports via oil companies that won’t deal with its new state oil company, an official said Tuesday. The government has been trying to consolidate power since the United Nations recognized it as Libya’s rightful ruling body in the wake of a civil war that split the country last year. Based in the war-torn North African nation’s eastern city of Baida, the government has formed its own national oil company, among other institutions. But the existing Libya National Oil Co. is based in Tripoli , where a group of militias known as Libya Dawn holds power. International oil companies and traders have maintained their longtime contacts with the established National Oil Co. and shunned the new one in the east, which is also called National Oil Co. Speaking to reporters Tuesday ahead of a meeting with oil companies the next day, the chief of […]

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Two of Libya’s most powerful rival militias have maintained pragmatic truces in a joint effort to beat back the advance of extremist group Islamic State, commanders and political representatives said. The truces have been centered in the country’s west, where armed groups supporting two competing governments have been engaged in fierce conflict for more than a year. The fight has effectively split the country and stirred concerns of a full-blown civil war. The two main militias, originating from the western cities of Misrata and Zintan, agreed to cease-fires that have largely held since June. They are exploring ways to try to halt the march of Islamic State westward out of the central city of Sirte on Libya’s Mediterranean coast. The results of truce talks between rival militias could help determine the fate of the oil-rich nation, beset by infighting since the overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi […]

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Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. Libya’s official government is struggling to woo oil majors in a bid to control oil revenue and force a rival Tripoli government into a U.N. peace deal because foreign clients are wary of breaking with the established state energy firm in the capital. The battle over Libya’s oil resources is at the heart of a conflict between two governments and parliaments allied to a host of armed groups fighting for power four years after an uprising ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. The internationally recognised government, based in the east since losing Tripoli a year ago, wants oil firms to discuss purchase contracts with its own officials instead of the state oil firm based in the capital, which is held by a rival group. So far foreign oil buyers have sought to ignore the conflict by continuing to pay through […]

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ISIL fighters crushed the revolt by the rival group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the city of Sirte. [Al Jazeera] The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has brutally quelled a rebellion in the Libyan city of Sirte by citizens who took up arms to try to push back the armed group, residents have said. Witnesses said the group was now calling on residents to pledge allegiance over loudspeakers from its main mosque and desecrating bodies of their adversaries. Sources in the city told Al Jazeera on Monday that clashes broke out five days earlier between ISIL and armed residents in the city’s Number Three neighbourhood, before ISIL besieged it and began shelling it with heavy weaponry. By Monday, the neighbourhood was under the full control of ISIL, the sources said. Cleric Khalid Awad said that ISIL had killed some of their prisoners […]

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Libya’s new head of the state oil company for the eastern region is considering ending force majeure at the North African nation’s two largest ports and will seek to boost crude output. “Among my priorities will be lifting force majeure at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf,” Nagi Elmagrabi , chairman of the National Oil Corp. for the eastern region, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I will also seek to increase oil production.” Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. It’s today the smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, with output of about 400,000 barrels. It has failed to restore production as militias fight for the control of export terminals while tribes and workers block operations at fields and pipelines to seek jobs and better pay. Libya in December stopped crude exports from the two […]

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Libya has become a major headache for European oil companies as a four-year conflict forced BP to join Total in writing off millions of dollars in investments in the North African country. BP on Tuesday said it had taken an impairment of almost $600 million in the second quarter as fighting forced it to suspend an oil exploration campaign. The unexpected charge was the main reason BP’s earnings fell short of analysts’ estimates. “There is significant uncertainty on when drilling operations might be able to proceed,” London-based BP said in a statement. The charge comes three months after Total became the first European oil major to take an impairment in Libya, writing off $755 million from onshore assets. That’s an ominous sign for firms including Eni SpA and Repsol SA, which have yet to mark down the value of their assets in the country. The Libyan oil industry has […]

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Libya’s crude production dropped below 400,000 barrels a day as the conflict in the divided North African country cut electricity supply at oil fields, according to the state-run National Oil Corp. Output in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest crude reserves, has been hampered by a lack of security and maintenance as well as power outages, Mohamed Elharari, an NOC spokesman, said Monday by phone from Tripoli. Crude production was about 411,000 barrels a day in June, according to the most recent OPEC monthly report. “The situation is not very good,” Elharari said. “There is poor maintenance, and there are electricity cuts at the oil fields.” Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. The country is today the smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It has failed to restore output as militias fight for the control […]

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* Petroleum guards say vessels would be impounded * Two tankers seen headed for 220,000 b/d port * Force majeure at Ras Lanuf lifted July 2 Libya’s hopes of resuming crude exports from its third-largest port Ras Lanuf may have been dashed after guards that protect the facility said they would not allow any vessel to dock there. State-owned NOC lifted the force majeure on crude loadings at Ras Lanuf — which had been in place since December — on July 2, theoretically allowing for exports to resume from the 220,000 b/d capacity terminal. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program honoring excellence and accomplishments in the global energy industry. The 17th annual awards will be presented at a black-tie gala, attracting energy industry leaders from around the world on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 at Cipriani’s in New York. Don’t miss this opportunity […]

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Libya’s prime minister said he’s hopeful that a peace deal can be signed during talks in Morocco on Thursday to end the civil conflict in the oil-rich nation. “There will be a lot of discussions tomorrow and there are people in favor and against,” Abdullah al-Thinni told reporters in Malta, where he stopped off en route to joining the United Nations-brokered negotiations. “We aspire to realise this agreement.” Al-Thinni heads a government that’s internationally recognized but only controls part of the country and has been pushed out of the capital, Tripoli, where a rival administration holds sway. Libya’s deepening divisions since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 have slashed oil output and allowed Islamic State militants to establish a foothold. Al-Thinni said that once a unity government was set up, it would continue to fight against Islamic State. Bernardino Leon, the UN envoy who is mediating the talks, […]

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