Category: North Africa

ENLARGE An image made available by an Islamist media outlet in February purports to show Islamic State militants parading in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Islamic State leaders in Syria have sent money, trainers and fighters to Libya in increasing numbers, raising new concerns for the U.S. that the militant group is gaining traction in its attempts to broaden its reach and expand its influence. In recent months, U.S. military officials said, Islamic State has solidified its foothold in Libya as it searches for ways to capitalize on rising popularity among extremist groups around the world. “ISIL now has an operational presence in Libya, and they have aspirations to make Libya their African hub,” said one U.S. military official, using an acronym for the group. “Libya is part of their terror map now.” Islamic State’s growth as a powerful anti-Western force has militant groups […]

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Photo Migrants waited to exit the Phoenix after arriving in Sicily. The ship rescued them from dinghies stranded in the Mediterranean. Credit Francesco Malavolta/Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — Loaded with life jackets, medics and search-and-rescue teams, the ship sailed from port in Malta early last Thursday morning in search of migrants stranded at sea. The first dinghy was found by midday, a wooden fishing boat, piled with 118 people, including 25 children, said Will Turner, head of a Doctors Without Borders team on board. The sea was rough. The wind swept the boat from side to side in six-foot swells, he recalled. The toughest part was ensuring that the babies — there were nine children under 5 — could be handed over safely, not dropped into the water or crushed between the boats. Mr. Turner told this story on Friday in a Skype interview from the ship, the Phoenix, […]

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Uncertainty remains over Libya oil sector amid civil unrest, Marathon Oil said in a quarterly report. Photo By Dona_Bozzi/Shutterstock HOUSTON, May 7 (UPI) — There’s a "considerable" amount of uncertainty surrounding production from Libyan oil reserves, Marathon Oil said in a quarterly report. Marathon left Libya out of its forecasts in its quarterly report, noting it took no oil from Libya this year. In December, the Libyan National Oil Corp. declared force majeure, absolving itself from contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond its control, at key terminals because of civil unrest. "Considerable uncertainty remains around future timing of production and sales levels, and Marathon Oil continues to exclude production from Libya in its production forecasts," the U.S. company said in a Wednesday statement. Libya has been unable to coordinate political efforts across the wide range of groups vying for more power since civil war ended formally in 2011. Before […]

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TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – All crude flows to Libya’s Zueitina port have stopped after protesters demanding jobs blocked a pipeline, forcing the closure of several eastern oilfields, oil officials said on Tuesday. State oil firm NOC confirmed the port closure, reported by Reuters on Monday, but did not specify the impact on production. The closure should lower oil output to as low as 400,000 barrels a day, according to estimates based on previous production figures. "The protesters closed the pipeline to the port," Mohamed El Harari, spokesman for state oil firm NOC, said. He said that several oilfields in eastern Libya would have to close. "This will have a big impact on oil production," he said, without giving a figure. A port official said the security situation at the terminal was normal, adding that the port would technically stay open. Libyan oil ports and oilfields regularly have to shut […]

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Exports from Libya’s 70,000 b/d capacity Zueitina oil export facility are likely to slip after protesters blocked a pipeline feeding the port, sources said Tuesday. The latest wave of civil unrest in Libya — this time said to be workers demanding improved pay and conditions at the port — could see the North African country’s oil exports drop further from already significantly reduced levels. Production in Libya has fallen to an estimated 400,000 b/d with exports likely to be only half that after output was shut in at the major Elephant (El Feel) field in late April, adding to the ongoing disruption elsewhere in the country. At Zueitina, loadings continue from stockpiles, one trading source said, but that could not continue indefinitely. Article continues below… "Exports from stock are still going on [but] if the unrest remains, Zueitina will be [exporting] less," the source said. Another said the disruption […]

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Protesters demanding state jobs have shut down the eastern Libyan oil export port of Zueitina, a port engineer said on Monday. No more information was immediately available. Libyan oil ports and oilfields regularly have to shut down due to protesters seizing them or armed groups fighting for control of the facilities. The protesters were complaining they had not been hired by the state as promised by a previous oil minister, said the engineer, asking not to be named. "They closed a pipeline leading to the port," he said. Zueitina is one of the few Libyan ports still exporting oil as the largest have closed due to fighting or blocked oilfields connected to them, part of turmoil gripping the North African country four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Zueitina port, located near the main eastern city of Benghazi, has closed several times since 2011 due […]

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BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Protesters have ended a strike at state-run Sirte Oil Co in eastern Libyan port of Brega which had forced the closure of the Irda gas field, a company spokesman said on Sunday. "We have reached an agreement with the protesters to end their strike," the spokesman said. The protesters had demanded jobs at the oil firm and had prevented staff from working at the company’s headquarters. It was not immediately clear whether the Irda field had resumed work. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; writing by Ulf Laessing ; editing by Jason Neely )

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TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – A strike by Libyan security guards over salary payments has forced the closure of the western El Feel oilfield, a spokesman for state oil firm NOC said on Sunday. On Saturday, a field engineer told Reuters the OPEC producer had closed the field, without citing a reason. El Feel is operated by a joint venture owned by NOC and Italy’s Eni. "The field’s security guards are on strike because they complain about a delay of their salary payments," said Mohamed El Harari, a spokesman for NOC. "NOC paid the salaries to the security forces, but they haven’t paid the guards yet," he said. Libya this year had managed to restart El Feel, which analysts say produced about 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya had to shut the field late last year when a group in the Zintan region, which opposes a self-declared government in Tripoli, […]

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