Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) on 15 January announced an operation to “secure” water, oil and gas facilities in the country’s lawless southwest.
Mr Haftar, the de facto leader of Libya’s unrecognized rival government, already controls major oil fields and export terminals in the east (MEES, 13 July 2018). His latest move suggests he eyes control over the 73,000 b/d El Feel and Libya’s largest producing field, El Sharara, which has seen around 315,000 b/d shut-in since 9 December due to repeated security breaches (MEES, 14 December 2018). (CONTINUED - 143 WORDS)