Interim Libya PM signals closed oil fields to restart

Libya’s interim Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, has said closed oil fields and ports in the country are to reopen after protesters agreed to lift blockades, but provided no timeline for the restart, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, oil shutdowns which began on 17 April, have cut Libya’s oil production by 50 per cent in the past month.

On 20 April, Libya’s Oil Minister, Mohamed Aoun, said that his country was incurring a total of $60 million in losses per day due to the closure of the country’s oil facilities.

Since last month, Libya has been witnessing closures of oil fields and ports by tribal groups in the south, centre, south-west and east, who have called on UN backed government leader, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, to hand power to Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed by the eastern based Parliament.

Last April, Dbeibeh renewed his refusal to hand over power except to a “government mandated by a new Parliament that will come through the upcoming elections, during the fifth meeting of the government for 2022.” He stressed that the Government of National Unity would continue to “perform its duties until the handover to an elected legitimate government.

READ: Libya Oil Company declares force majeure in Sharara oil field