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Libya Oil Disruption Worsens Amid Anti-Government Protest

The disruption of Libyan crude exports worsened as rebels shut down a recently re-opened oil port after protesting over the appointment of the country’s new prime minister. Petroleum Facilities Guards members aligned with federalist rebels stopped loadings at the Hariga oil port in eastern Libya , Oil Ministry Director of Measurement Ibrahim Al Awami said by telephone from Tripoli. The guard has also banned flights operated by state-run National Oil Corp. to Zueitina, another oil port in the east, he said. The eastern rebels’ leader Ibrahim Al-Jedran “seems to have given instructions for this protest to happen because he’s unhappy with the new government,” Awami said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the benchmark for half the world’s traded crude. On May 21, Citigroup raised its 2014 Brent price forecast to $109 a barrel, from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan Oil May Suffer More Disruption, General Says

Libyan crude exports may be disrupted further by a dispute over the appointment of a new prime minister or attacks against oil infrastructure by Islamists, a retired general leading the fight against militant groups said. Separatist rebels objecting to Ahmed Maiteg’s appointment as prime minister may reoccupy Zueitina and Hariga, two oil export terminals returned to government control last month, Colonel Mohammad Hijazi, a spokesman for General Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed National Army, said today. Haftar respects the rebels’ demand for more autonomy for ’s regions, Hijazi said. “The crisis is worsening and it’s a possibility that the two oil ports that have re-opened close again,” Hijazi said by phone from Tripoli. Extremist groups Haftar is fighting in the east “could attack anything, including the oil facilities,” he said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the […]

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Egypt Scrambles to Raise Turnout in Presidential Vote

After Egypt’s revolution three years ago, so many voters eager for democracy turned out for elections that officials had to scramble to accommodate the throngs. On Tuesday, the military-backed government confronted the opposite problem. Officials extended a scheduled two-day vote for a third day not because of long lines, but because so few people had shown up. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former army field marshal who deposed Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s first freely elected president, is still universally expected to win by a landslide. Yet the disappointing turnout has upended his supporters’ hopes that the vote would grant him new legitimacy after the ouster. When polling places around the nation remained largely empty on the second day of voting, signs of panic swept the government. Officials initially extended voting hours on Tuesday by an hour, to 10 p.m. Then, a holiday was declared for […]

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Sisi on brink of presidency as Egyptians vote

Egyptians voted on Monday in a presidential election expected to sweep former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi into office, with supporters brushing aside concerns about human rights and hailing him as the strong leader the country needs. Three years after the historic uprising against Hosni Mubarak, the vote is set to restore a pattern of rule by men from the military after Sisi toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Voters lined up to cast ballots at heavily guarded polling stations from 9.00 a.m. (2.00 a.m. ET). Sisi faces only one challenger in the two-day vote: the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. "We see Sisi as a real man. Egypt likes a strong man," said Saber Habib, clenching his fist to illustrate his point as he waited to vote in the city of Suez, east of Cairo. "We want the country to […]

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Oil Companies Pull Some Staff From Libya on Security Concerns

Repsol SA and SA are among the western oil companies pulling out some expatriate employees from Libya amid escalating violence there, posing the latest challenge to the Libyan oil industry’s fragile recovery. "We have reduced our presence in Tripoli, which was already limited, to the minimum," a Total spokesman said Wednesday, adding the French company isn’t pulling out of Libya. Spain’s Repsol is also withdrawing some expatriate staff, according to people at the company. Repsol wouldn’t discuss the details of personnel movements for security reasons. Last week, renegade Libyan general Khalifa Hifter launched an armed campaign against Islamist-backed militia in Libya. Mr. Hifter says the offensive is aimed at imposing stability after three years of chaos since the ouster and death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Strikes and armed occupation of oil terminals have already reduced the Libya’s oil output to less than a fifth of […]

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Prominent Libyans Vow Support for General

A Libyan general who has led a violent campaign against Islamist militias and lawmakers drew prominent new supporters to his cause on Wednesday, including the country’s air force commander and its ambassador to the United Nations. Libya’s largest non-Islamist political alliance also said in a statement that it was supporting the general, Khalifa Hifter, who began his campaign on Friday by leading an assault on Islamist militias in Benghazi. What began as a fairly isolated attack against Islamist bases in one corner of the country appears to be growing into a national political movement. General Hifter has won support from a disparate band of allies, including some Libyans angered by the outsize influence of militias, which have been accused of assassinations and other political violence. The fledgling government has been powerless to exert its authority over the militias or other influential figures, including regional leaders and […]

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Haftar Vows to Crush Libyan Islamists, Seeks GNC Shutdown

Libyan ex-general Khalifa Haftar vowed to pursue his campaign against Islamist militias, emboldened by growing support for the offensive, and said the country’s parliament should be suspended until new elections. In a statement broadcast on national television late yesterday, Haftar promised to “to eradicate terrorism and extremist groups,” which he blames for the growing chaos in the oil-rich North African country three years after the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi . The ex-general’s military initiative against Islamist forces, which he launched without approval from Libya’s chain of command, is broadening its support. Air Force chief Colonel Gomaa al-Abbani has pledged to back Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, and it also won the loyalty of at least one other senior military official, some soldiers and militias in cities including Zintan in the west, and others who have controlled eastern ports and blocked oil exports since July. Haftar’s forces have mostly attacked […]

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Algeria authorizes shale gas exploitation

Algeria’s Cabinet has announced it will move forward with the exploitation of the country’s large shale gas reserves. The statement carried by the state news agency Wednesday night gave the green light to finding foreign partners to exploit the reserves. According to a 2013 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Algeria is third globally after China and Argentina in technically recoverable shale gas reserves with 707 trillion cubic feet (20 trillion cubic meters) of reserves. It has yet to be determined if the reserves are commercially viable. The state said 11 wells will be drilled over the next seven to 13 years. Algeria’s once rich oil and natural gas reserves have been declining in recent years.

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Pipeline attack adds to Egyptian gas woes

Egyptian media said Tuesday militants in the Sinai Peninsula bombed a natural gas pipeline in a regional industrial zone, though no injuries were reported. Ahram Online reported unknown assailants blew up the pipeline that supplies regional industries in the city of Arish. The blast was described as powerful, though no other details were provided. Militants in the restive peninsula have targeted the region’s gas infrastructure repeatedly since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The latest attack follows a push by the Egyptian government to address a lingering gas shortage. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum expects domestic gas production will increase 1.7 percent this year, though consumption is expected to increase by 12.5 percent. More than a dozen new natural gas wells are expected to be tied into the national grid this year in an effort to increased gas production. A country report from […]

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Top Libyan air force official backs rebel general

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The top official in Libya’s air forces has announced he’ll back an offensive by a renegade general against Islamic extremists and militias blamed for wave of killings since the downfall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Col. Gomaa al-Abbani’s announcement late Tuesday is among a series of loyalty pledges made by military units and commanders to Gen. Khalifa Hifter. Militias allied to Hifter launched an attack Sunday against parliament after an offensive his forces led on Friday in the eastern city of Benghazi. Hours after al-Abbani’s announcement, witnesses said rockets targeted military camps in the capital, Tripoli. On Tuesday, Libya’s election commission announced parliamentary elections will be held June 25, a top demand among most Libyans.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple