Libya: Dbeibeh's gov’t welcomes lifting of the blockade on oil installations

The Government of National Unity headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh welcomed, on Wednesday, the opening of ports and oil fields in the country which have been closed since mid-April.

The Ministry of Oil and Gas in Dbeibeh’s government said in a statement that “the process of resuming the production will have a positive impact on the Libyan economy as well as the infrastructure of the oil sector.”

This comes after the Prime Minister of the Libyan government assigned by the Libyan House of Representatives, Fathi Bashagha, announced the reopening of the oil fields and ports, after “efforts by the Libyan House of Representatives and the Libyan Government of National Unity.”

The Ministry of Oil and Gas in Dbeibeh’s government said in its statement: “It became clear that there is no relation with any civil element or group with the closure process, and that the persons who closed the oil fields and ports were the same who permitted to open,” in reference to Speaker of Parliament in the eastern government Aguila Saleh.

READ: Are we back to armed conflict over oil?

The statement called on “everyone to neutralise the oil and gas sector from political disputes, and to put the interest of the state of Libya above all considerations.”

Since 17 April, Libya’s oilfields have been shut by tribal groups across the African country, calling in the Government of National Unity, chaired by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, to hand over power to the Fathi Bashagha gove9 rnment that was appointed by the parliament in the country’s eastern city of Tobruk in March.

Dbeibeh has repeatedly refused to step down unless “popular elections were held.”

Libya is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with an average daily production of 1.3 million barrels. On 20 April, Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun said that the country was incurring a total of $60 million in losses per day due to the closure of the oil facilities.