Libya: Oil and gas production facing biggest threat since 2011

The chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanallah, has said that renewed fighting in the country could “bring down” the country’s production of crude oil.

During his meeting with Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Al-Sarraj, Sanallah said that the country’s export of oil and gas is facing its biggest threat since 2011. This is due to the size of the battles and the repercussions of war, the most recent of which have taken place in the suburbs of Libyan capital Tripoli, according to the “Information Office of Al-Sarraj” on Facebook.

To date, oil supplies in Libya have not been affected by the clashes between the forces of General Khalifa Haftar and the forces of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord.

However, business news agency Bloomberg has now predicted that “the consequences of these clashes will not be seen quickly,” noting that “the oil fields and major export terminals are far from the clashes, but history shows that fighting anywhere in Libya can cause huge fluctuations in production”.

Most of Libya’s oil infrastructure is located in the east of the country. Despite the growing power of Haftar’s forces in the east, oil revenues are still flowing to the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli.

READ: Witnesses: Libyan capital rocked by renewed clashes