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Libya rebels warn Tripoli oil ports to stay closed unless deal implemented

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 output falls amid uncertainty

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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Militant group in Egypt says it killed officer

An Islamic militant group in Egypt has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed a senior police officer the day before. It says the attack was in retaliation for the killings and arrests by government forces of supporters of the country’s ousted Islamist president. Thursday’s statement by Ajnad Misr, or "Egypt’s Soldiers," a group which first appeared in January, was posted on its Facebook page. It carried photographs of the slain officer, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki, a commander in the riot police, showing him riding in a blue pick-up truck. The group claimed Zaki used a truck with no police insignia as a "disguise" for fear of being targeted. Attacks against Egyptian forces have escalated since the military last summer removed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

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Bombing in Cairo kills senior Egypt police officer

Egyptian security officials say a senior police officer has died after an explosive device placed under his car went off in a western Cairo suburb. The officials say Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki was heading to work from his home in 6th of October suburb when the bomb detonated on Wednesday morning. The officials say the explosion critically wounded Zaki and he later died in the hospital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. Attacks against Egyptian police and military have stepped up as militant groups wage an increasingly violent campaign following the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Since Morsi was removed by the military last July, more than 1,300 protesters, mostly pro-Morsi supporters, and over 450 troops have been killed.

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Libya expects delays at key oil terminal

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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14 Algerian soldiers killed in ambush

Attack on troops tasked with protecting polling stations appeared to carry message for returning president Insurgents ambushed an Algerian military convoy in the mountainous Kabylie region, killing 14 soldiers, the state news agency reported Sunday. The attack came two days after Algeria’s presidential election . The attack near the village of Iboudraren began at 10 p.m. Saturday with 11 soldiers being killed immediately and another three succumbing to their wounds, the agency said. A local official said a large group of insurgents hid on both sides of the road and opened fire with automatic weapons as the military bus drove by. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The region has been the site of past clashes, including one three years ago that killed 13 soldiers at an army post. That attack was claimed by the Algeria-based Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. There […]

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Libya expecting oil sector to recover

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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Egypt: Cabinet – No Rise in Electricity, Diesel's Prices

Following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Cabinet Spokesman Ambassador Hossam el-Qawish said that the subsidy system will be restructured in a way that does not affect the limited income brackets. He further urged the citizens to rationalize consumption in electricity He asserted that there are no rises in prices of electricity or diesel, adding that next summer would not witness a lot of blackouts. He pointed out that there would specific times for blackouts until a radical solution to the electricity crisis is reached. Copyright © 2014 Egypt State Information Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

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Egypt: Cabinet – No Rise in Electricity, Diesel’s Prices

Following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Cabinet Spokesman Ambassador Hossam el-Qawish said that the subsidy system will be restructured in a way that does not affect the limited income brackets. He further urged the citizens to rationalize consumption in electricity He asserted that there are no rises in prices of electricity or diesel, adding that next summer would not witness a lot of blackouts. He pointed out that there would specific times for blackouts until a radical solution to the electricity crisis is reached. Copyright © 2014 Egypt State Information Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

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Oil Tanker Starts Loading First Crude From East Libya in Months

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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