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East Libya breakaway blocks bid to reopen oil ports

BENGHAZI, Libya, Nov. 13 (UPI) — Efforts to revive Libya’s oil industry, crippled by militia fighting and post-revolution chaos, have suffered a major setback with a unilateral declaration of a self-rule by the oil-rich Cyrenaica region in the oil-rich east. Leaders of the autonomy movement in the eastern region, whose capital Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi , said Monday they have already set up a shadow government and established a regional oil company to handle exports separately from the shaky central government in Tripoli. Oil fields, pipelines, terminals and ports in the east, where 60 percent of Libya’s oil is produced, have been closed in a wave of protests that began in July with a strike by armed guards in the oil fields and grew into a blockade of most of the country’s energy industry. In Cyrenaica, the original economic […]

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Libya: Cyrenaica Severs Ties With State Oil

Tripoli — Libya’s eastern zone had already declared political autonomy. This week, it also broke from the state-run oil company. Speaking in Ajdabia, “Political Bureau of Cyrenaica” (PBC) head Ibrahim Said al-Jadhran announced the formation of the “Libyan Oil and Gas Corporation”. “The wealth belongs to the entirety of Libya,” he told the press on Sunday (November 10th). The Executive Bureau of Cyrenaica issued a resolution to form the new company, which will begin operations in Tobruk before moving to Benghazi. “We are waiting for the reaction of the territories of Tripoli and Fezzan. We hope they co-operate with us,” Executive Bureau chief Abed Rabbo al-Barasi said. “After that, we will sell oil and will keep the shares of the territories of Tripoli and Fezzan from the oil sales, and we will not touch those proceeds,” he said. The move comes a fortnight after al-Barasi announced 24 portfolios for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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East Libya breakaway blocks bid to reopen oil ports

BENGHAZI, Libya, Nov. 13 (UPI) — Efforts to revive Libya’s oil industry, crippled by militia fighting and post-revolution chaos, have suffered a major setback with a unilateral declaration of a self-rule by the oil-rich Cyrenaica region in the oil-rich east. Leaders of the autonomy movement in the eastern region, whose capital Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi , said Monday they have already set up a shadow government and established a regional oil company to handle exports separately from the shaky central government in Tripoli. Oil fields, pipelines, terminals and ports in the east, where 60 percent of Libya’s oil is produced, have been closed in a wave of protests that began in July with a strike by armed guards in the oil fields and grew into a blockade of most of the country’s energy industry. In Cyrenaica, the original economic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt: Russia too important to be US substitute

AP Photo CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s foreign minister sought to downplay speculation of a major shift in his country’s foreign policy, saying during a top-level Russian visit Thursday that Moscow was too important to be a substitute for the United States as Cairo’s key ally and backer. The remarks by Nabil Fahmy came after talks with his visiting counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who is leading the Russian delegation to Cairo. “We look forward to cooperation with Russia in multiple fields and that is because of Russia’s significance in the international arena,” Fahmy said at a news conference. “We look forward to strong, continuous and stable relations with Russia. We seek to energize a relation that is already in existence.” When asked whether Russia would replace the U.S. as his country’s chief ally, Fahmy said Egypt was not looking for a “substitute for anyone.” “Russia’s weight is too heavy to be […]

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Morsi supporters sentenced to 17 years for Al-Azhar protest in Egypt

An Egyptian court sentenced 12 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi to 17 years in prison for taking part in a violent student-led protest, state media reported. The official MENA news agency reported that the protesters were convicted of attacking the headquarters of the Islamic Al-Azhar institution during the protest. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement said on its website that all those sentenced were students at Al-Azhar’s university. The men were arrested after protesters in October tried to storm Al-Azhar’s head office, which supported the military’s overthrow of Morsi. The men will be allowed to post 64,000 Egyptian pounds ($9,300) bail while they appeal the sentences. More than 1,000 people, most of them Morsi supporters or opponents of  the military-led coup, have been killed in clashes with police since he was removed in July. Thousands have been arrested, with many going to trial. Fourteen suspected Morsi supporters who were on […]

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Libya calls people to liberate oil sector

TRIPOLI, Libya, Nov. 11 (UPI) — Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan called on the people to work to “liberate” oil and natural gas facilities crippled by strikes and insurgency. “Women, children, men and even old people should support the government and go to the oil ports and terminals to liberate them from the criminals and protect their only sustenance,” he was quoted by the Libya Herald as saying Sunday. Libya has struggled to return to a pre-civil war oil production level in excess of 1 million barrels per day. Rival groups in the east of the country announced early November they declared independence for the region known as Cyrenaica, which hosts some of Libya’s key oil terminals. Labor strikes have shut down processing facilities in the west of the country. The Libyan newspaper reported Zeidan gave strikers a 10-day deadline to end their protests. He said the situation may […]

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Libya Expects Tanker to Load Crude at Hariga Oil Port Tomorrow

A tanker is expected to dock and load crude from a Libyan oil export terminal that has been shut for much of the past two months, according to a state company official and ship tracking data. The vessel will pick up at least 600,000 barrels of crude from the country’s eastern port of Hariga tomorrow, for shipment to a European destination, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Corp. said today by phone from Tripoli, without elaborating on the tanker’s name or its charterer. Shiptracking data on Bloomberg show that the British Falcon is headed to Hariga, after being moored at another Libyan port, Zawiya, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9. Libyan oil output was 250,000 barrels a day yesterday Elharari said. That’s a fraction of the 1.6 million produced prior to the country’s civil war. The nation, holder of Africa ’s biggest oil reserves, is losing […]

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Egypt relies on Gulf aid for economy: Then what?

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt is engaged in a high stakes gamble, using billions of dollars from Gulf Arab allies to stimulate the economy and keep its politically charged streets calm in the hope that investors and tourists will return. The biggest Arab country’s finances are in a precarious state with a massive deficit but the government, armed with billions of Gulf petrodollars, has rejected the conventional wisdom of IMF-prescribed austerity measures. If the plan fails, a new government expected to be elected early next year could find itself deep in debt, its currency overvalued and an economy in crisis. "Now we are living on a ventilator, (with) aid from neighboring countries and that is understandable in the midst of a meager tourism industry and reluctance of direct foreign investment," Sherif Samy, Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority head, said. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged more than $12 […]

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Libya may face budget problems unless oil strikes end – PM

Reuters TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya may find it difficult to cover its budget expenditure next month or the one after unless strikes blocking oil ports and fields end, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Sunday. A mix of militias, tribes and civil servants seeking political rights or higher pay have seized oil ports and fields across the OPEC producer, knocking down output to a fraction of its capacity of 1.25 million barrels a day. “The budget is based on the assumption that oil revenues flow for the (full) year,” Zeidan told reporters. “From next or the following month, there could be a problem covering expenditures.” Zeidan said the government had given the protesters a week to 10 days to clear the blocked oil fields and ports. “Otherwise, we will take measures,” he said, declining to be more specific. He said the blockage of the Mellitah terminal in Western Libya […]

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Libyan army launches push for order in troubled Benghazi

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan’s army moved into Benghazi in eastern Libya on Friday, a show of force aimed at restoring order in the country’s second largest city, rocked by almost daily bombings and assassinations. Security in the port city, an important part of Libya’s oil infrastructure, has deteriorated in the past few months with armed militants and radical Islamists roaming unchallenged, highlighting the anarchy in the OPEC producer two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Most countries have closed their consulates in Benghazi after a series of attacks and some foreign airlines have stopped flying there. The U.S. ambassador was killed in September 2012 during an Islamist assault on the consulate. Stability in the region is key for oil supplies as around 60 percent of oil production comes from the country’s eastern half. Hundreds of armored troop carriers and army trucks mounted with guns drove through the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple