Oil Guards News

Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guards have stopped blockading the port of Hariga at Tobruk after being paid, they said in a video statement on Wednesday whose authenticity was confirmed by a guards member.The stoppage at Hariga began last month and contributed to a decline in Libyan oil output, a Libyan oil source said this week.(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali, writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Grant McCool)

Libyan oil exports from closed ports should resume in no more than one to two weeks after a deal was signed between the government and an armed brigade controlling the terminals, President Council member Mousa Alkouni told Reuters on Friday.   "I think the resumption depends now on technical part... and I think too it will happen from a week to two weeks, but not more," he said. He said the agreement included payment of salaries to oil guards controlling the ports.   Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports have been closed since December 2014 and are controlled by commander Ibrahim al-Jathran's Petroleum Facilities Guards, one of the scores of brigades operating in Libya since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; writing by Patrick Markey, editing by David Evans)

Libya's recognized government warned its security forces would seize any tankers approaching the Ras Lanuf terminal without permission, saying any attempt to make oil deals with the rival government in Tripoli would be "piracy". The warning over Ras Lanuf illustrates how the OPEC country's oil industry is caught up in a power struggle between the two rival governments and their armed forces, who have each appointed competing figures in the state oil company. The internationally recognised government and elected parliament has operated in the east since last year, when an armed faction called Libya Dawn took over the capital, set up its own government and took control of ministries in Tripoli.

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-most oil export terminal, Hariga, was still closed on Friday by protesting oil guards waiting for their salaries to be transferred, a spokesman for the operating company said on Friday. Hariga is run by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, a state-owned subsidiary of National Oil Corp (NOC). The spokesman said that funds to cover the salaries had been transferred by the Ministry of Finance to NOC, but still needed to be transferred to the Petroleum Facilities Guards for distribution to its employees. The port was shut down at the beginning of last week. Two oil tankers have been waiting to load since then. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Pravin Char)

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…

China exports fall for 2nd straight month in March, while U.S. crude stocks rise, at a record on the Gulf coast (EIA). Libya's oil guards take control of Hariga port, Zueitina pending and OPEC sees lower demand for its crude in 2014. Separately, Brent to fall to $107.17. Oil prices slipped towards $107 a barrel on Thursday as weaker data from China and OPEC stoked concerns that growth in global oil demand was easing while markets watched for elusive evidence of a resumption in Libyan exports. Chinese exports unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in March and imports dropped sharply, intensifying expectations of weaker manufacturing and slowing growth in the world's No. 2 economy. Crude imports fell to a five-month low, but rose 2 percent on last year.

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…