LIBYA: Two occupied ports accounting for 200,000 barrels per day of crude exports are due to be reopened as breakthrough deal is reached between the Libyan government and rebel forces

Record ID: 344476

  • Title: LIBYA: Two occupied ports accounting for 200,000 barrels per day of crude exports are due to be reopened as breakthrough deal is reached between the Libyan government and rebel forces
  • Date: 6th April 2014
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (APRIL 6, 2014) (REUTERS) LIBYA'S JUSTICE MINISTER SALAH AL-MERGHANI AT THE END OF NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYA'S JUSTICE MINISTER, SALAH AL-MERGHANI, SAYING: "There are mediators that have reached an agreement approved by the government to reopen the ports in two stages. Firstly, Zueitina and Hariga ports will reopen, while Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports are going to reopen in two to four weeks. Certainly, there will be other conditions and terms." LIBYAN FLAG AL-MERGHANI AND OTHER OFFICIALS DURING MEETING
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4U4G6FDLC691QC9WP9XC2F70E
  • Story Text: Libya's government reached a deal with rebels on Sunday (April 6) to reopen two occupied oil ports accounting for 200,000 barrels per day of crude exports in a major breakthrough to end an eight-month blockade.
    Zueitina and Hariga ports - the two smallest of four terminals seized by rebels demanding more autonomy from Tripoli and a greater share of oil wealth - will be reopened on Sunday, according to the agreement.
    Libya's justice minister said two other larger occupied ports - Ras Lanuf and Es Sider - would be reopened after two to four weeks of further negotiations with the federalist rebels, who also said more talks were needed to reach a breakthrough.

    "There are mediators that have reached an agreement approved by the government to reopen the ports in two stages. Firstly, Zueitina and Hariga ports will reopen, while Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports are going to reopen in two to four weeks. Certainly, there will be other conditions and terms," Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said.
    Full details of the deal were not immediately known but the reopening of two ports will boost Libya's weak government, which is struggling to control the North African country nearly three years after an uprising ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    The restart of Libya's eastern oil ports could bump up Libya's output from around 150,000 bpd. But this would still be far from the 1.4 million bpd it produced before last summer, when Ibrahim Jathran, a former anti-Gaddafi fighter, seized three key ports in defiance of Tripoli's authority.
    The shutdown has already cost the state billions of dollars in lost oil revenues.
    Talks to end the standoff came after the federalist rebels last month managed to load crude onto a tanker at one port they control and forced it out to sea in an attempt to sell the oil.
    U.S. commandoes later boarded the formerly North Korean-flagged vessel in international waters and returned it to Libya, in a major blow to the federalists' plan to bypass Tripoli and sell oil independently on the global market.
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