Libyan oil guard head says asked to protect oil ports after clashes

Record ID: 401468

  • Title: Libyan oil guard head says asked to protect oil ports after clashes
  • Date: 8th March 2017
  • Summary: ES SIDER, BENGHAZI, LIBYA (FILE - JANUARY 2017) (REUTERS) SIGN BY STORAGE ENTRANCE READING (Arabic): "ES SIDER OIL PORT"
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2017 11:41
  • Keywords: Es Sider Benghazi Libya Oil Idris Bukhamada National Oil Corporation
  • Location: ES SIDER, BENGHAZI, LIBYA
  • City: ES SIDER, BENGHAZI, LIBYA
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001673NFBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An oil guard official appointed by Libya's U.N.-backed government said on Tuesday (March 7) that he had been tasked with protecting oil ports by an armed faction that took over Es Sider and Ras Lanuf terminals last week.
    Idris Bukhamada, recently named by the Government of National Accord as the head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, told local TV that export operations at the ports were continuing and that the oil was for all Libyans.
    He was speaking after east Libyan forces carried out air strikes for a fifth day against the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB), the faction that overran the ports. The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and the BDB have been battling for control in Libya's eastern Oil Crescent since Friday (March 3), threatening output from oil ports that the LNA seized in September.
    A senior official from Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Monday (March 6) that production had dipped by 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to the latest unrest, leaving national production at just over 660,000 bpd.
    Es Sider and Ras Lanuf were badly damaged in previous rounds of fighting and are still operating well below capacity.
    The current battle threatens to enflame a long-running, low intensity conflict between political and military factions based in eastern and western Libya, which the U.N.-backed government has failed to solve.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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