News Agencies – Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guards has announced that the oil production blockade imposed by Khalifa Haftar has been lifted.
As Libyan Observer reports, Naji Al-Maghrabi, head of Haftar’s Petroleum Facilities Guards said in a video “there is no objection to reopening oil ports and relevant facilities for the dispersal of oil”.
However, it was not indicated whether the decision to reopen was to restore normal production on a continued basis, or if it was a move to distribute stocks of gas and oil stored in the ports, however, it has been claimed to justify the decision by saying it was to alleviate the suffering of Libyan citizens which was caused due to the closures.
Oil production has almost come to a standstill in Libya after pro-Haftar groups shut down oil facilities in eastern parts of the country in January to squeeze resources of GNA, Daily Sabah states.
Libya, with the largest oil reserves in Africa, can produce 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. The NOC warned earlier that oil output would eventually fall to 72,000 bpd if the blockade continued. Production has fallen below 100,000 barrels a day due to the interruptions by the pro-Haftar militias over the past seven months.
