Shutdown of Libya oil sites spreads to second terminal

Libya’s National Oil Corporation introduced Tuesday the closure of a 2d export terminal, paralyzing the important energy region in a North African us of a gripped by using political crisis.

The suspension of operations at Brega terminal, which has an export capability of 60,000 barrels consistent with day (bpd), follows a pressure majeur and closure on Monday of Zueitina port and numerous different important sites in the “Oil Crescent” location of jap Libya.

The NOC, in an announcement, said it “pronounces a nation of force majeure at the oil port of Brega because it is not possible to implement its commitments in the direction of the oil marketplace”.

Force majeure, a legal move, allows parties to free themselves from contractual obligations when factors such as fighting or natural disasters make meeting them impossible.

The NOC made a similar declaration on Monday at another major oil field, Al-Sharara.

“A group of individuals put pressure on workers in the Al-Sharara oil field, which forced them to gradually shut down production,” it said.

Oil installations have often been attacked or blockaded by armed groups who hold sway in Libya.

Libya has had two rival executives since the eastern-based parliament in February appointed a new prime minister in a direct challenge to the UN-brokered government in the capital Tripoli.

The latest standoff pits Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah’s interim government against that of former interior minister Fathi Bashagha, who was chosen by the parliament.

The groups blocking the oil facilities are demanding “a fair distribution” of income and the transfer of power to Bashagha.

They have led to combined losses in production estimated at 600,000 bpd, about half of Libya’s daily output.

The NOC warned that Libya would pay a high price.

“At a time when oil prices are recovering significantly due to increased global demand… Libyan crude is being subjected to a wave of illegal closures, which will have serious damage to wells, reservoirs and surface equipment… as well as the loss of state treasury opportunities at prices that may not be repeated for decades to come,” it said.

The NOC is one of the few establishments within the troubled us of a to have stayed intact — and largely impartial — since the 2011 NATO-backed rebellion that ousted longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Oil revenues are important to the economy of a country sitting on Africa’s largest recognized reserves.