The self-styled ‘Libyan National Army’ under renegade general Khalifa Haftar handed back control of four key Sirte Basin oil ports – Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Hariga and Zueitina – to the state National Oil Corporation in mid-July (MEES, 13 July). Oil export volumes have since risen to average more than 850,000 b/d for the past month – a normal-to-good level as far as Libya’s recent history is concerned.
But gains remain precarious, with only three of the country’s seven onshore crude export terminals – Es Sider on the Sirte Basin, Hariga in the east, and Mellitah in the west – maintaining anything that could be termed a ‘normal’ loading schedule. Elsewhere, gains, such as they are, have been uncertain with cargoes appearing at irregular frequencies and often short notice. (CONTINUED - 1743 WORDS)
