Federalist News

A second tanker is waiting to load oil at Libya's Es Sider port, state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday, as the country's biggest crude export terminal swung back into action after being closed for a year. The OPEC member's oil production has risen in the past few weeks as major ports in the east have resumed work under a deal with a group of federalist rebels, adding to a crude market that is already well supplied. A first tanker has been loading oil at Es Sider since Wednesday but a second had already arrived, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari said. Technical problems and mistrust between the rebels campaigning for regional autonomy and the government had delayed implementing an oil port deal but output has risen to 562,000 barrels per day (bpd), NOC said on Tuesday.

A second tanker is waiting to load oil at Libya's Es Sider port, state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday, as the country's biggest crude export terminal swung back into action after being closed for a year. The OPEC member's oil production has risen in the past few weeks as major ports in the east have resumed work under a deal with a group of federalist rebels, adding to a crude market that is already well supplied. A first tanker has been loading oil at Es Sider since Wednesday but a second had already arrived, NOC spokesman Mohamed El Harari said. Technical problems and mistrust between the rebels campaigning for regional autonomy and the government had delayed implementing an oil port deal but output has risen to 562,000 barrels per day (bpd), NOC said on Tuesday.

The fourth National Security Cutter, Hamilton, successfully completed several days of rigorous acceptance trials Thursday to ensure the cutter meets its contractual requirements and is ready for delivery to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Hamilton, which will be home ported in Charleston, South Carolina, conducted the acceptance trials in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and at sea in the Gulf of Mexico by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. Acceptance trials are the final significant milestone, or final exam, before the government takes ownership of a new cutter.

Libya will not be able to export oil through its two largest eastern ports before August, due to safety checks after a near year-long closure, a senior oil official said on Wednesday. The latest twist in a spiral of violence also casts a shadow over the vital deal two weeks ago to end the eastern blockade by federalist protesters of the last two facilities they held. Until April, the rebels were holding four out of five eastern ports, cutting off over half of Libya's export capacity. But an oil export return is proving slow and a full ramp up is already facing new obstacles with a fresh protest by oil guards at the port of Brega. At least 15 people have been killed in the capital and the eastern city of Benghazi since Sunday.

Libya's eastern Zueitina oil port will receive late on Thursday its first tanker of crude since reopening after nearly ten months due to protests, state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said. The tanker would load one million barrels of crude, NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said. According to shipping sources, Austria's OMV had chartered the Ottoman Tenacity. A second tanker would load crude on May 5 and a third one after that, Harari said. NOC lifted force majeure on the port on April 28 following a recent deal with federalist protesters to reopen the smallest two of four blocked eastern ports. (Reporting by Feras Bosalum; Writing by Ulf Laessing)

North Sea Forties crude differentials were unchanged on Wednesday in very quiet pre-Easter trade, with dealers still watching two potential VLCC shipments to Asia and the stuttering return of Libyan oil supplies. A strong early rally in flat-price Brent futures also kept traders on the sidelines, market sources said, with the new front-month contract for June delivery rising above $110 a barrel for the first time since early March as tensions in Ukraine rose. There were no trades in the Platts assessment window and no outstanding bids or offers, leaving Forties at dated Brent plus 15 cents. Traders have been watching the progress of two VLCCs - the BW Utah and the Phoenix Vanguard, both of which have been in the frame for arbitrage shipments of Forties to South Korea.

A tanker has started loading crude at Libya's eastern port of Hariga for the first time in nearly nine months, after a federalist group agreed to re-open it last week, a state oil company official said on Wednesday. The tanker Aegean Dignity arrived at the port on Tuesday. Arabian Gulf Oil Co, a subsidiary of state National Oil Corp .(NOC), was able to raise output at its main oilfield, Sarir, to 50,000 barrels per day as a result. "The ship is loading at Hariga, it will load about 900,000 to 1 million barrels," the official said.   Reporting by Julia Payne

An oil tanker is due to load 1 million barrels of crude on Tuesday from Libya's recently reopened Hariga port, its first export shipment after a deal to end months of closures at its key terminals, the National Oil Corp. (NOC) said. The tanker is due to take its load to Italy, the NOC quoted an oil official as saying in a statement on its website. NOC was able to lift force majeure on Hariga last week. Federalist rebels are still in control of the OPEC exporter's two largest terminals.   Reporting by Lin Noueihed

Libya's eastern Zueitina oil port was still not under government control one week after an agreement with a federalist rebel group to immediately reopen it along with the Hariga terminal, a spokesman for National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Monday.   The spokesman said that NOC was still waiting for confirmation from the government-run Petroleum Facilities Guard that they were able to establish full control over the complex.   NOC was able to lift force majeure on Hariga last week and a tanker is due to load crude there this week. The federalist rebels are still in control of the country's two largest terminals.   (Reporting by Feras Bosalum, Writing by Julia Payne. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Libya may have averted a state collapse by striking a deal with eastern rebels to reopen occupied oil ports, but technical delays and simmering federalist dissent threaten to disrupt production once again. On Sunday, Libya's fragile government reached an agreement with Ibrahim al-Jathran, the leader of eastern rebels, to reopen two oil ports they were holding and lift a nine-month blockade crippling crude exports. Under the deal, Hariga and Zueitina ports will reopen immediately, with the larger Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals to be freed by Jathran's men in less than four weeks after more negotiations. Nearly three years after dictator Muammar Gaddafi's fall…

Barely a day after Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) lifted force majeure at Hariga port, two refiners are already preparing to pick up Sarir crude from storage over the next two weeks, trading and shipping sources said on Friday. The Aegean Dignity is on subjects - meaning final arrangements are being made- to load crude at Hariga around April 15-16, sources said. Reuters AIS Live ship tracking showed the tanker with orders to sail to Libya. The charterer was Austrian energy group OMV, they added. Another refiner is looking to charter a ship to load the same grade around April 20-25.

Brent futures eased towards $107 a barrel on Friday as the global supply outlook improved with more Libyan supplies expected to reach the market, although growing tension between the West and Russia over Ukraine put a floor under prices. Oil prices also came under pressure as producer-group OPEC said it sees lower demand for its oil this year, highlighting concerns over the economy and competition from rival producers, just as data from China showed imports fell to a five-month low. Earlier in the week, United States said oil inventories rose on the back of a local production boom. Brent crude fell 16 cents to $107.30 a barrel by 0340 GMT, after settling 52 cents lower. The contract is set to end the week 0.5 percent higher, recouping part of the previous week's losses. U.S.

Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) has yet to lift force majeure at the eastern ports of Zueitina and Hariga following a deal with federalist rebels to reopen them after a nine-month blockade, an oil ministry official said on Tuesday. "Force majeure is still in place, it has not been lifted. NOC has not instructed the ports to export oil yet," Ibrahim al-Awami said. Al Awami said staff at Arabian Gulf Oil Co (AGOCO), which runs the Hariga terminal, had joined a general strike in Benghazi that began on Sunday. It was unclear whether this would affect the port's ability to resume exports. Workers at Zueitina were carrying out maintenance and checking facilities before the resumption of exports, Al Awami said.

Kazakh CPC Blend crude strengthened on Tuesday as the outlook soured for the resumption of rival Libyan oil exports and a loading programme showed lower Azeri loadings in May. In the Platts window, oil major Total bid for CPC at dated Brent minus 50 cents, some 20 cents stronger than previous price estimates, but found no sellers, traders said. In the Urals market, Eni offered a cargo in the Baltic at dated Brent minus 75 cents, but found no buyers as the levels were considered too strong. Traders said CPC might be strengthening as the market for light barrels in Europe might be tightening. Azeri Light oil exports will decline in May to 748,000 barrels per day from 818,000 bpd in April, traders said on Tuesday, citing a loading programme.

ZUEITINA PORT, Libya/TRIPOLI, April 7  - Libya's Zueitina oil port prepared on Monday to load crude into tankers after the government reached a deal with rebels to reopen four terminals that insurgents have occupied since the summer. The federalist rebels agreed on Sunday to end gradually their eight-month blockade of Zueitina, Hariga, Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports, which account for around 700,000 barrels per day of the OPEC country's crude exports. Brent crude fell $1.47 to a low of $105.25 per barrel before recovering to $105.72 by 1256 GMT, after news of an end to the port protest removed some of the supply worries affecting the oil market.

Libya's Zueitina oil port prepared on Monday to load crude on tankers after the government reached a deal with rebels to reopen four terminals that insurgents have occupied since summer. The federalist rebels agreed on Sunday to end gradually their eight-month blockade of Zueitina, Hariga, Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports, which account for around 700,000 barrels per day of the OPEC country's crude exports. Brent crude fell $1.47 to a low of $105.25 per barrel before recovering to $105.72 by 1256 GMT, after news of an end to the port protest removed some of the supply worries affecting the oil market. "The port is ready to start exporting at the present time or later at any time…