Libya’s oil output of 1.2mn b/d in April was its highest in six months, but this could prove to be the calm before the storm. Eastern-based General Khalifa Haftar’s push to take Tripoli is increasingly calling into question the sustainability of the oil and gas flows vital to the war-torn country’s economy.
Things haven’t exactly gone to plan for the 75-year-old commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). Mr Haftar’s operation to “liberate” Tripoli from “terrorist” militias is now in its fifth week, but his forces have been pushed back by a hodgepodge of armed groups loosely aligned to the internationally recognized Tripoli government he seeks to overthrow (MEES, 5 April). His gamble that forces in the capital would defect to him has so far not borne fruit. (CONTINUED - 1052 WORDS)
