Loading restarts at libya oil terminals

Loading operations at the Libyan oil terminals of Al-Sidr and Ras Lanuf resumed today after a stoppage, National Oil Corporation (NOC) and two engineers at the ports said.

Exports were still halted at a third terminal, Hariga, where people have blocked loading operations, an engineer there said.

Demonstrators have been calling for the dismissal of the head of the National Oil Corporation, (NOC) Mustafa Sanalla, as the conflict over who runs the country’s oil sector continues to grow between Sanalla and Libya’s Oil and Gas Minister Mohamed Aoun.

Sanalla has headed the NOC for 7 years including carrying out exploration and production projects, and representing the country in ministerial meetings of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which are tasks usually related to the Ministry of Oil and Gas.

However, since the national unity government assigned Aoun to the oil ministry in March, relations with Sanalla have soured, and the two oil magnates have clashed over key policies in the sector, as Aoun wanted the corporation to focus on production rather than control of the country’s oil and gas licenses.

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