2024-10-03 16:52:56
Benghazi-based rulers in eastern Libya announced today that oil production will resume from fields in that part of the country. The work of the other oil facilities under their control will also be resumed. This was reported by two sources from the administration in Benghazi and local media, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
For its part, the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) announced on its page on the social network “Facebook” that “as of October 3, the force majeure circumstances are canceled” in all Libyan oil fields and terminals. That means Libya’s oil production and exports are fully resuming, market analysts said.
The suspension of black gold exports and the curtailment of production came about because of a conflict between the leading political factions in Libya over control of the country’s central bank.
The oil-rich North African country remains effectively divided in two. The Government of National Unity controls its western part, including the capital Tripoli.
The eastern part of the country is under the control of military commander Khalifa Haftar’s paramilitary militias. Most of the oil in the African country is extracted there.
The two factions are contesting control of Libya’s central bank. It is based in Tripoli and is the only internationally recognized financial institution where Libyan oil revenues are deposited. That’s why the institution is vital to the two rival Libyan governments, based in Tripoli and Benghazi, respectively, according to Reuters.
National production and exports were halted in August when the parallel government in eastern Libya announced the shutdown of oil facilities to protest the removal of Libya’s central bank governor, Sadiq al-Kabir.
The new governor, Naji Mohamed Isa Belkasem, and his deputy, Mari Muftah Raheel Barassi, were approved on Monday by the warring parties’ two legislatures, based in Benghazi and in Tripoli. This paved the way for a resumption of oil production from fields in eastern Libya, market analysts said.