Category: North Africa

Libya’s state-owned oil company said operations resumed at the western Zawiya oil terminal after protesters ended a blockade. More Libyan crude oil is expected to arrive on the international market after the central government brokered a deal with eastern rebel leaders to open export terminals there last week. Libya has struggled to return to its pre-civil war production level of 1.6 million barrels per day. Market tensions over energy security in Eastern Europe were countered by prospects even more Libyan oil would come from the Zawiya oil port in the west of the country. The International Monetary Fund said the Libyan energy sector represents about $63 billion to the government, a majority in terms of percentage of gross domestic product. In March, a progress report on Libya from the European Commission said a blockade on oil exports by eastern federalists has "severely" affected Libya’s fiscal situation. [ BBC ] […]

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Libya has faced insecurity and instability since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011 The Jordanian ambassador to Libya has been kidnapped in the capital Tripoli, in an attack that left his driver wounded, officials say. Libya’s foreign ministry confirmed Fawaz al-Itan’s kidnapping to the BBC, adding that his driver was in hospital. The Jordanian prime minister said that the envoy’s release was being negotiated. Libya has been plagued by instability since armed groups toppled Muammar Gaddafi from power in 2011. "The Jordanian ambassador was kidnapped this morning. His convoy was attacked by a group of hooded men on board two civilian cars," government spokesman Said Lassoued told AFP news agency. On Sunday, Libya’s newly appointed Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni stepped down after what he described as a "cowardly attack" on him and his family by a militia. Mr Thinni had been appointed as PM after his predecessor Ali Zeidan […]

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Dragging deeply on a cigarette and swirling his espresso dregs, the curly-haired young militiaman offered up a vivid account of the battles he and fellow rebels waged to bring down dictator Moammar Kadafi — days of blazing bombardment, thirsty desert nights. Then he voiced his dismay at the chokehold those same armed groups now maintain on Libya. "We fought so hard to make a new country," said the 28-year-old of Libyan extraction who left Britain to join the revolution that swept this North African nation in 2011. "Now it’s all about money. Money and guns." The rebel groups that worked together to oust Kadafi have fragmented into rivalrous factions whose outsized collective power has sapped Libya’s oil wealth, turned a nascent government structure to tatters and ushered in a grim cycle of assassinations, abductions and firefights in the streets. International attention tends to focus on the […]

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Libya’s leadership said Sunday that the interim prime minister had declined a parliamentary mandate to form a new government and would step down, in a move likely to compound the difficulties facing a government already divided and facing widespread unrest and militia violence. The interim prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, announced on the government’s website that he was leaving his post but would stay on as leader of the cabinet until a replacement could be found. He is the second Libyan prime minister to resign within two months, underlining the nation’s instability after the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Mr. Thinni said that he was stepping down “to protect the interests of the country and so as not to drag different sides into fighting when there can be no winner.” He also said his decision was related to an armed attack on him and his […]

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An oil terminal in eastern Libya, which has been occupied by rebels, is on the cusp of loading its first tanker since the takeover, and another terminal has restarted operations, an oil official said Sunday. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, The news is the latest sign Libya’s embattled oil industry could be on its way back to recovery follows a deal between the government and the rebels who had occupied terminals in eastern Libya since the summer seeking greater autonomy in the region, Muhammad el-Harari, a spokesman for Libya’s National Oil Corp., said a first tanker will "start loading one million barrels late Sunday or early Monday" from the Hariga terminal. The group, led by militia chief Ibrahim al-Jathran, has also agreed to leave Zueitina terminal. The rebels have yet to reach an agreement with the government on two larger ports, Ras Lanuf and Es-Sider. The oil company […]

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Libya , the OPEC nation producing at about 10 percent of capacity, is set to raise oil shipments next week as a tanker was booked to load crude from one of four ports seized last year by rebels. State-run National Oil Corp. lifted force majeure on the Hariga terminal yesterday, according to a statement on its website . Vienna-based oil company OMV AG provisionally booked a tanker to load as much as a million barrels of oil from the port next week, according to two traders with knowledge of the matter. Hariga has oil in storage ready to export, according to the oil ministry. Brent crude , a benchmark of half the world’s oil, has fallen about 3 percent this year amid speculation that Libya would restart shipments. The possible return of supply is weighing on prices, said Seth Kleinman, Citigroup Inc.’s London-based head of energy research, after the […]

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In a humiliating video, Libya’s top politician – the head of parliament – is seen begging with a militia commander, trying to explain to him why he was caught with two women in his residence and insisting nothing scandalous was going on. "In God’s name," Nouri Abu Sahmein tells the militiaman, Haitham al-Tajouri. "I’m hiding nothing from you, Haitham." Visibly afraid, Abu Sahmein tells him the women claimed to have "sensitive information" at a time he has received tips about a cell plotting to assassinate him. "I want to close this all up, but I want to understand. I am not a fool," the militia commander replies, speaking from off camera. The video, taken and leaked by the militiamen and shown earlier this month on Libyan TV stations, sparked an uproar and prompted the prosecutor general to investigate, summoning Abu Sahmein and al-Tajouri for questioning. […]

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Western powers praised a deal ending blockades at eastern Libya oil export terminals, saying their closure had spoiled the nation’s economy for nine months. A joint statement by the French, German, Italian, British and U.S. governments praised Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni for brokering a deal to end blockades at Libyan ports. They said in their statement Monday the blockade had "done so much damage to the Libyan economy and to the Libyan people over the last nine months." The International Monetary Fund said the Libyan energy sector represents about $63 billion to the government, a majority in terms of percentage of gross domestic product. In March, a progress report on Libya from the European Commission said a blockade on oil exports by eastern federalists has "severely" affected Libya’s fiscal situation. Last weekend, the Libyan government agreed on terms with eastern rebel leaders to […]

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Libyan rebels surrendered control of two oil ports to the government, potentially enabling the OPEC member to triple crude exports this month with an increase of at least 180,000 barrels a day. Brent futures dropped. The self-declared Executive Office for Barqa handed over the oil terminals of Zueitina and Hariga overnight, said Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman of the group that seeks self rule for the region that is also known as Cyrenaica. An agreement yesterday with the government also provides for the rebels to relinquish the other two ports they control, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, in two to four weeks, he said. The government confirmed the agreement in a statement on its website. With Africa ’s largest oil reserves, Libya’s oil production slumped by more than 1 million barrels a day in the past year as protests halted oil fields and ports. Brent crude futures, which fell 1.3 […]

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