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Libya: Operations to resume in secure oil fields, ports

September 23, 2020 at 3:05 pm

Oil field in Libya, 7 September 2017 [Javier Blas/Wikipedia]

Libya’s national oil company said that its engineers and staff members will gradually return to work at secure fields and ports as a first step to restoring production processes, Anadolu Agency reported.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) added in a statement that the first phase of restoring operations will comprise the Brega and Hrega ports in the east, with the rest of the ports reopening in the second phase. The timing will be determined by when it is safe and secure to do so.

The state-run company has begun arrangements for exporting oil through the secure ports, and crude carriers will arrive today to ship the available quantities of crude oil.

Libya’s self-prescribed military General, Khalifa Haftar, who is based in the country’s east, has recently given in to internal and international pressures to reopen the oil sector. In parallel, Fayez Al-Sarraj, the head of the country’s internationally-recognised presidential council, announced last week his desire to hand over his duties to the next executive authority.

READ: Some Libyan oil facilities restart operations

Al-Sarraj is the leader of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in Tripoli, and which has recently made a string of military gains over Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).

The oil exportation fields and ports had been closed by Haftar for more than eight months, which resulted in $10 billion in losses for Libya’s economy.

The National Oil Corporation expects production in the coming week to reach 260,000 barrels per day, compared to 90,000 barrels per day last week.

The Libyan oil and Haftar - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The Libyan oil and Haftar – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]