TRIPOLI —
Production has resumed at four key oil fields in war-torn
Libya after a
three-week shutdown by gunmen linked to Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard, the
group said Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
The PFG-affiliated fighters had closed the
Sharara, Al-Fil, Al-Wafa, and Al-Hamada fields in December over a pay dispute,
slashing output from the
North African country by over 300,000 barrels per day,
according to the
National Oil Corporation.
On Tuesday, a PFG official said the sites in southwestern Libya,
along with pipelines delivering oil and gas to export terminals on the
country’s northwest Mediterranean coast, “are operational again”.
“The government has listened to our legitimate
demands, which were financial and technical in nature,” the official told AFP
on condition of anonymity.
“We have been working in difficult conditions
for years.”
The official’s comments came a day after PFG
representatives met in Tripoli with interim prime minister
Abdulhamid Dbeibah,
who “ordered the immediate reopening of the fields”, according to a statement
from his office.
Dbeibah also ordered a committee to look into
“the difficulties (the PFG) faces in fulfilling its mission”, the statement
said.
Since the 1970s Libya has depended heavily on
revenues from its vast crude reserves.
But in the decade since the revolt that
overthrew and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, armed groups have frequently
blockaded or damaged oil installations.
The latest shutdown had forced the National
Oil Corporation to declare force majeur, a legal move allowing it to free
itself from contractual obligations in light of factors beyond its control.
But on Tuesday it announced “a halt in exports
from the Al-Sidra terminal because it is unable to replace storage facilities
damaged in fighting”.
It said stormy weather had prevented oil
tankers from loading at the Al-Sidra terminal, meaning existing storage
facilities had quickly reached capacity.
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