By Thompson ABISOLA
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has said its major oil ports of RasLanuf and Es Sider have been closed due to attacks by armed brigades opposed to the powerful eastern commander KhalifaHaftar.
The corporation said on Thursday in Benghazi, Libya that the attacks had caused a production loss of 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) and evacuation of staff “for their safety.”
“The production loss was around 240,000 bpd and the entry of a tanker due at Es Sider on Thursday was postponed,” it said.
At least one storage tank at RasLanuf terminal was set alight, an engineer told Reuters.
The clashes between forces loyal to Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) and rival armed groups were taking place south of RasLanuf, where the LNA was targeting its opponents with air strikes, local sources said.
The LNA took control of Es Sider and RasLanuf along with other oil ports in Libya’s oil crescent in 2016, allowing them to reopen after a long blockade and significantly lifting Libya’s oil production.
More than half the storage tanks at both terminals were badly damaged in previous fighting and have yet to be repaired, though there have been regular loadings from Es Sider.
A military source said the three-pronged attack was launched by the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB), a group that has previously tried to take the oil crescent and advance on Benghazi, since late last year.
Ibrahim Jathran, who headed an armed group that blockaded the terminals for more than two years before being forced out by the LNA, appeared in a video posted on social media announcing the start of a campaign.
“We announce the preparation of our ground forces and supporting forces in the oil region, and our objective is to overturn the injustice for our people over the past two years,” he said, standing in a camouflage jacket in an unidentified desert area.
“The past two years have been catastrophic for people in the oil crescent because of the presence of the system of injustice which is the other face of terrorism and extremism.”
Repeated previous attempts by the LNA’s opponents to retake the oil crescent have failed, and it is unclear how much military and local, tribal support Jathran or BDB forces currently have.
Crude exports from RasLanuf stood at 110,000 bpd in May, while exports from Es Sider were around 300,000 bpd, according to oil analytics company Vortexa.
The Minerva Lisa oil tanker, which was due to arrive at Es Sider to load a crude cargo on Thursday, was advised to stay outside the port, a source familiar with the matter said.
The tanker, chartered by trader Petraco, was seen turning away from the port on Thursday morning without loading, according to Reuters’ ship tracking.
Libya’s oil production recovered last year to just over one million bpd and has been mostly stable, though it remains vulnerable to shutdowns and blockades at oil facilities.
National output is still well under the more than 1.6 million bpd Libya was producing before a 2011 uprising led to political fragmentation and armed conflict.
