Category: Libya

ENLARGE A January photo of the Mellitah Oil and Gas terminal on the outskirts of Zwara in western Libya after fighters from the Islamist-backed Fajr Libya militia secured the perimeter of the oil complex. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images An oil tanker booked to load Libyan crude has sparked a fraught question over the North African country’s huge crude reserves: Who has the right to sell the oil when two governments are battling for control of the nation? The dispute is at the center of the struggle for control of Libya since the ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the nation’s descent into violence and instability. The issue has become muddier in recent weeks after a string of terrorist attacks and sabotage crippled the oil industry. The Vito, a tanker controlled by Aurum Ship Management of the United Arab Emirates, has been chartered to load 1.3 million barrels […]

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Italian energy company Eni reports what it says is a major natural gas discovery off the Libyan coast. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Italian energy company Eni said Monday it made what it considers to be a significant discovery of natural gas off the coast of war-torn Libya. The company said it produced about 29 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from a discovery well off the Libyan coast . Its estimated capacity is 50 million cubic feet per day and its proximity to existing production infrastructure will allow for rapid development. "This exploration success further confirms the enormous potential of Libyan gas resources," the company said in a statement. "The future development of Libyan resources will allow supporting the growth of the domestic consumption and industry, while maintaining Libya’s position as a strategic supplier for Italy and Europe." Italy received nearly 10 percent of its natural gas from Libya’s […]

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By Benoit Faucon Libya’s National Oil Co. on Thursday warned against attempts to sell its crude oil illegally, amid mounting chaos in the oil industry. The news come after a string of attacks by purported members of the Islamic State against oil fields in the center of the country, which has already been rocked by a civil war between two rival governments. In a statement posted on its website, NOC said it had obtained "reliable sources of information in the oil market that some middlemen and brokers of unknown orientation were offering amounts of Libyan crude oil" without its approval. The state-run company, which has remained neutral in the conflict, threatened legal action at home and abroad against any buyer, referring to existing export bans from shutdown terminals Ras Lanuf and Sidra. The two eastern Libyan ports are controlled by oil guards loyal to warlord Ibrahim Jadran. Libya, once […]

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SURT, Libya — The Islamic State has established more than a foothold in this Mediterranean port. Its fighters dominate the city center so thoroughly that a Libyan brigade sent to dislodge the group remains camped on the outskirts, visibly afraid to enter and allowing the extremists to come and go as they please. “We are going to allow them to slip out, because the less people we have to fight, the better,” said Mohamed Omar el-Hassan, a 28-year-old former crane operator who leads the brigade from a prefabricated shed on a highway ringing the city. “Why make the city suffer?” he said, trying to explain his delay more than 16 days after the brigade arrived in Surt. Nearly four years after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , Libya ’s warring cities and towns have become so entangled in internal conflicts over money and power that they have opened […]

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Warplanes from Libya’s internationally recognized government attacked the last functioning airport in Tripoli, the capital controlled by a rival administration, on Monday, officials said. Extending a series of tit-for-tat strikes, the attack coincided with the swearing-in of Khalifa Haftar, one of the most divisive figures in post-revolutionary Libya, as army commander for the recognized government. Rival governments and parliaments are battling for control of the large North African country and its oil resources four years after rebels ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi. The recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and the elected parliament have been confined to a rump state in the east since an armed faction seized Tripoli in the west over the summer, reinstating the previous assembly and setting up a rival administration. "Warplanes conducted airstrikes this morning on Mitiga airport but there was no damage," airport spokesman Abdulsalam Buamoud said. "Flights were suspended for only an hour … […]

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The government in Manila announced the repatriation of more than six dozen nationals from Libya one day before Islamic State abduction of four Filipinos. Photo courtesy of Filipino Foreign Ministry Seven foreign workers were abducted and 11 guards were killed when militants raided the Ghani oil field in Libya. Fighters loyal to the group calling itself the Islamic State took credit for the Friday attack, the latest to stifle oil operations in Libya. The Filipino government confirmed four of its nationals were among those seized, the Libya Herald reported Saturday. The confirmation came after the Filipino Foreign Ministry said 77 of its citizens were repatriated March 5 after they crossed the border into Tunisia. "The Department of Foreign Affairs estimates that there remain approximately 4,000 Filipinos in Libya despite the call by the Philippine government for their mandatory evacuation as a result of the deteriorating security situation in that […]

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BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya is set to export more than two million barrels of crude oil this week from two ports in the east where output has topped 245,000 barrels per day, oil officials said on Monday. Rising exports from the ports of Hariga and Zueitina offer some hope for the OPEC member state’s oil sector, which has been battered by Islamist militant attacks and fighting between rival factions. Output from four fields including Sarir, the country’s largest, has reached 243,000 to 245,000 bpd, said Omran al-Zwai, spokesman for state firm Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) which dominates production in eastern Libya. AGOCO restarted output at the Sarir and Messla oilfields after a pipeline blast cut off supplies to Hariga last month. The two fields pump around 180,000 bpd, while AGOCO also runs the Hamada and Nafoura fields. A fifth field, Bayda, has been closed to an outage, […]

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Fighters from Libya Dawn take a position outside Tripoli on Thursday. ENLARGE Photo: mahmud turkia/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Deadly attacks on Libyan oil installations in recent days have resulted in what could be long-lasting damage to the industry that affects oil markets and alters the battle for dominance in the country. Western and Libyan officials said they suspected the Libyan affiliate of Islamic State, the radical group that has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria, was responsible for assaults on Friday that left at least eight people dead and seven foreign workers missing. The attacks targeting oil fields and their employees point to a new pattern in Libya’s violence: Lacking the strength and expertise to capture and use oil installations, militant groups are destroying them to prevent rivals from profiting from the oil. Islamic State’s “engagement with Libya’s hydrocarbons sector is not about capturing fields,” said Geoff Porter, an […]

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The El Sharara oil field in Libya resumed operation in December after being shut down by militants in November. Photo by Javier Blas/CC WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) — Libya declared force majeure on 11 oilfields after a series of Islamic State attacks on facilities in the country’s central region. The state-owned National Oil Corp. posted a statement on its website declaring force majeure, saying it could no longer ensure production at the facilities due to the deteriorating security situation. The move frees the company of liability. Two fields, Bahi and Mabruk, had been attacked last month and were seized again Monday and Tuesday by unknown militants. Gunmen at Mabruk claimed to represent the Islamic State militant group. A third field, Dahra, was attacked late Tuesday. Col. Hakim Maazab, who commands oil guards in the region, said Wednesday the militants had withdrawn from Mabruk , after destroying oil tanks and […]

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Libya on Wednesday declared a force majeure related to 11 oil fields in the center of country, after a string of attacks against the facilities by the radical group calling itself Islamic State. In a statement posted on its website, state-owned National Oil Co. said it was no longer able to ensure security in the 11 fields and declared force majeure on them, a move guaranteeing legal protections from claims against any future disruptions. In recent weeks, the North African country’s oil industry—once the lifeblood of its economy—has been in the cross hairs of an armed conflict. The country is pumping about 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day, three times less than its peak output. The Dahra oil field, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Tripoli, was attacked late on Tuesday, hours after two other oil facilities were targeted by the militants. Col. Hakim Maazab, a commander […]

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