Libya’s state oil company says it hopes to resume exports from three terminals seized this week by forces loyal to a powerful general based in the east.
Advertisement
Mustafa Sanaallah, top executive of the Libya’s Oil Corporation, said on Wednesday that teams have begun assessing damage to the facilities in Ras Lanuf, al-Sidra and Zueitina terminals.
Haftar controls military forces loyal to the Tobruk parliament, which is in dispute with the Tripoli based, UN-backed “unity government” the GNA.
“I said always that Gen. Hifter must have a role in this joint united army structure, and I would like to sit together with him and discuss it”, Kobler told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council in NY.
They said in a joint statement that the United Nations -brokered government based in the capital, Tripoli, is the “sole steward of these resources”, adding that “Libya’s oil belongs to the Libyan people”.
The United States and five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) have together called on “all military forces that have moved into the oil crescent to withdraw immediately, without preconditions”.
“We will work on the oil ports resuming work as soon as possible so as to guarantee all Libyans a decent life”, Abdullah al-Thani said. The oil-rich North African country slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi. He said Gen Haftar’s forces “liberated the fields and the terminals from the occupiers and those hindering exports”, referring to militia commander Ibrahim Jadhran, who commands a force known as the Petroleum Facilities Guard.
“We could use the UN Security Council resolution (2259) against the attackers on the state institutions as the resolution vows punishment for those who threaten to destroy or vandalize any sovereign state institution and threaten to crack the unity and fabric of any state”.
The NOC said on Tuesday it would “begin work immediately to restart exports” and that all exports must conform with the United Nations resolution. Libya exported 146 million barrels of oil in 2015, down from 531 million three years earlier, according to official figures.
Oil is Libya’s main natural resource with reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa, but production has plummeted since 2011 as the country plunged into turmoil.
Advertisement
In the report, Kobler spoke of the “fragile peace” in Libya’s Oil Crescent which suffered a “fierce blow” when army units commanded by Haftar attacked four oil terminals previously under the control of forces loyal to the Presidency Council. Italy was acting on a request made by Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) on August 9, she added.
