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Western Libya News

08 Dec 2020

Eastern Libyan Force Says It Intercepted Turkish Cargo Ship

Turkish ship under was intercepted while heading to the port of Misrata in Libya - Credit: Yarr65/Adobestock

Eastern-based Libyan forces have intercepted a Turkish ship under a Jamaican flag heading to the port of Misrata in western Libya, their spokesman said on Monday, a possible new flashpoint in the conflict after weeks of truce.Turkey is the main foreign backer of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), in the west, which has for years been fighting the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari added that the commercial cargo ship, Mabrouka, had 17 crew, including nine Turkish nationals, and containers that had not yet been inspected.

10 Aug 2020

Libya's NOC Warns of Dangers at Oil Ports

© Haris Andronos / Adobe Stock

The chairman of Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) on Saturday warned against the risk of a disaster at the country's oil ports due to a growing military presence with storage tanks held at capacity for months due to a blockade."Oil ports are closed, exporting is halted.

27 Jan 2020

Libya's NOC Warning Over Impact of Oil Blockade

The head of Libya's state oil firm warned on Monday that if the international community tolerates a blockade on the country's oil industry it would be complicit in ending the rule of law in the country.The 10-day old blockade is the most extensive for years, shutting down fields and ports in the east and south of Libya and causing production to plunge to 262,000 barrels per day (bpd) from around 1.2 million.Production has gradually been falling since the blockade began as storage capacity in Libya's ports fills up, forcing Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) to shut in production upstream.NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said that at the Ras Lanuf port only 30% of storage capacity was operational…

12 Nov 2018

Migrants Rescued by Cargo Ship Refuse to Disembark at Libyan Port

Some 95 migrants picked up by a cargo ship off the Libyan coast have refused to disembark in the western city of Misrata, officials from the United Nations and Libyan coast guard said on Monday.The Libyan coast guard, supported by Italy, has stepped up patrols to stop boats with mainly African migrants from leaving Libyan shores for Europe.A cargo ship bound for Misrata rescued on Thursday around 95 migrants whose boat was about to sink, Rida Essa, a Misrata-based coast guard commander, told Reuters.He said coast guard vessels had been unable to reach the site of the accident so the cargo ship brought them to Misrata, Libya's biggest port."They (migrants) did not want to leave the ship...We tried to negotiate with them and this has lasted for three days…

11 Jul 2018

Key Oil Export Terminals Reopen in Libya

Damage at Ras Lanuf terminal June 18, 2018 (Photo: NOC)

Tripoli-based National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday four export terminals were being reopened after eastern factions handed over the ports, ending a standoff that had shut down most of Libya's oil output.Production and export operations would be restored "within the next few hours", an NOC statement said, although the restart at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, where workers were evacuated and storage tanks damaged in fighting last month, was expected to be gradual.A tanker at Hariga was due to start loading 1 million barrels of crude on Wednesday afternoon…

15 Mar 2018

Libya Seizes Tanker Suspected of Fuel Smuggling

© Andrea Izzotti / Adobe Stock

Libya's naval forces seized a Togo-flagged fuel tanker and arrested its Greek crew on suspicion they planned to smuggle oil out of the North African country, a spokesman for the forces said on Thursday. Libya's western coast is a departure point for the smuggling of heavily subsidised gasoline to neighbours such as Tunisia and Malta, where retail prices are much higher. "The naval forces seized a Togo-flagged oil tanker in the territorial waters without permissions from the state of Libya. It has the name LAMAR," naval forces spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters.

24 Jul 2017

Libya Coastguard Rescues Nearly 300 Migrants at Sea

Libya's coastguard rescued an estimated 278 migrants including women and children on Monday off the shores of two different towns west of the capital Tripoli, a spokesman said. The coastal towns to the west of Tripoli - Zawiya, Sabratha, and Zuwarah - are common departure points for migrants trying to reach Europe, often sent out by smugglers in flimsy vessels. The coastguard near Zawiya refinery rescued 128 people about 23 km (14 miles) off the coast and another 150 were rescued off Sabratha, the spokesman of Libyan naval forces Ayoub Qaseed told Reuters. The migrants were mostly from sub-Saharan African countries, though there was also one from Bangladesh and two from Egypt.

30 Jun 2017

UN Resolution Targets Libyan Fuel Smugglers

The U.N. Security Council has extended sanctions on illegal oil exports from Libya to cover refined petroleum products as well, in a bid to stem rampant smuggling of subsidised fuel by sea. Imported fuel that is priced lower for the domestic market is commonly smuggled by ship from western Libya to Malta, Italy and Turkey, and by land to Tunisia, according to U.N. investigators who earlier this month recommended an extension of the sanctions. Entrenched and powerful smuggling networks have been trading fuel for years, and it is unclear to what extent the resolution can be enforced. The new resolution, approved late on Thursday, is designed to make explicit that fuel smuggling is illegal…

06 Apr 2017

Libya Coastguard Clashes With Suspected Smugglers, Four Killed

Four suspected migrant smugglers were killed in an exchange of fire with the Libyan coastguard off western Libya on Thursday, spokesman Ayoub Qassem said. Qassem said the clash started when the coastguards tried to apprehend heavily armed gunmen whose boat was located near a migrant vessel close to the city of Zawiya, about 45 km (28 miles) west of Tripoli. "The coastguard boat detected the gunmen's boat by radar during a patrol," Qassem told Reuters. "The gunmen were asked to stop but they refused to follow the rules, which means most likely they were smugglers of illegal migrants. They opened fire at the patrol. Two of the suspected smugglers were arrested and one was missing, Qassem said.

04 Mar 2017

Libya: Air Strikes Aimed to Regain Oil Ports

East Libyan forces carried out air strikes around major oil ports on Saturday as they sought to regain control of the area from a rival faction, a military spokesman said. The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and allied forces retreated on Friday from Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, two of Libya's largest export terminals, as a faction known as the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) attacked. The prospect of a renewed escalation of violence around the ports puts at risk the big rise in oil production achieved after the LNA took over four ports in September. Libya's oil production has been fluctuating around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than double its output last year but well under the 1.6 million bpd the OPEC member was producing before a 2011 uprising.

20 Dec 2016

Tanker Docks at Libya's Es Sider Port to Load First Crude Cargo in Two Years

An oil tanker docked at the east Libyan port of Es Sider on Monday to load the first cargo of crude since the terminal reopened following a two-year closure, port officials said. Es Sider, Libya's biggest export terminal, had been shut due to a blockade by a military faction since 2014. It reopened in mid September, but repairs were needed before tankers could load at the port, and its capacity remains far below its pre-conflict level of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd). Es Sider is one of four ports seized in September by forces loyal to east Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, which allowed Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) to reopen them, doubling national production to about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).

23 Sep 2016

Libyan Oil Port Takeover Gives Edge to Eastern Commander

Less than a fortnight after forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar swept into four of Libya's oil ports, tankers are loading, production has jumped, and momentum has shifted firmly in the divisive former general's favour. For Haftar's opponents, and for Western powers, the move on the ports was alarming. Haftar and his backers in eastern Libya have been in a stand-off for months with a unity government in Tripoli, blocking any parliamentary vote to endorse it and challenging the U.N.-mediated deal to unify Libya. How Haftar and his allies will use control of the country's major oil exports - whether to leverage political advantage under that U.N. deal, or to extend military control across Libya - is still uncertain. But risks to stability are clear.

21 Sep 2016

Libya Exports First Oil Cargo From Ras Lanuf Since 2014

Photo: NOC

An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanuf for Italy early on Wednesday with the first crude export cargo from the terminal since at least late 2014, boosting hopes of reviving Libya's battered oil output. The port manager of Ras Lanuf said a second tanker was preparing to load at the terminal, one of four seized on Sept. 11-12 by eastern Libyan forces loyal to military leader Khalifa Haftar. Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has welcomed a promise by Haftar's forces to allow the NOC to control the ports.

12 Sep 2016

Libyan Commander's Seizure of Oil Ports Risks New Conflict

Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar said on Monday they had tightened their control over four major oil ports, casting a Western-backed project to unite Libya and revive oil exports into deep uncertainty. Haftar's forces met little resistance as they seized the terminals at Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zueitina and Brega in an operation launched on Sunday, displacing a rival armed faction aligned with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. The advance is the latest power struggle over the OPEC nation's energy assets, after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi and the chaos that followed left the North African country splintered into competing rival armed factions.

18 Aug 2016

Libya's NOC Says Tanker Will Transfer Oil from Threatened Port

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that rival forces had agreed to let a tanker dock at Zueitina port to load oil and take it to a safe place. The NOC expressed concern earlier this month after reports of possible clashes between the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) and forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. The PFG has signed a deal to end its blockade of Zueitina and two other ports with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, but eastern forces loyal to a separate government have threatened to block a resumption of exports. Those forces recently mobilised near Zueitina and PFG positions, though there have been no reports of violence.

16 May 2016

Libya to Resume Oil Shipments from Hariga

Libya will resume oil shipments from the port of Marsa El Hariga after an agreement was reached at talks in Vienna between rival oil officials representing the east and west of the country, Libyan oil sources told Reuters. Exports from the port have been blocked since early this month due to a standoff between the rival eastern and western National Oil Corporations (NOC). Early signs of rapprochement between the two could help Libya quickly increase its oil production back towards the more than 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) it was before the blockade more than halved output from two major eastern oil fields. The NOC in Benghazi, which is loyal to Libya's eastern government…

04 May 2016

Tanker Departs Libya Empty amid Political Crisis

A tanker that an oil company set up by Libya's eastern government prevented from loading has left the eastern port of Marsa el-Hariga, a port official said on Wednesday. The Seachance, which had been due to load 600,000 barrels of oil for the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli, left the port of its own accord, the official said. The stand-off at Hariga, part of a broader political struggle between factions in eastern and western Libya, threatens to further diminish Libya's oil output. An NOC Tripoli official said production could drop by 120,000 barrels per day if it is unable to load at Hariga. The parallel Benghazi-based NOC ordered port workers not to load the Seachance after seeing a its first attempted oil export shipment blacklisted by the United Nations…

01 May 2016

Blacklisted Tanker Returns to Libya's Zawiya Port

A tanker that Libya's rival eastern government had been using to try to export oil in defiance of the Western-backed administration in Tripoli returned to the country on Saturday, after it was blacklisted by the United Nations, the state oil company said. The eastern government's parallel oil company had hoped to sell the cargo of 650,000 barrels, but the United Nations measure required states to ban it from entering any port. Two competing governments, one in Tripoli and one in the east, backed by armed factions have struggled for control of the North African OPEC state since 2014. The eastern administration has set up its own National Oil Corporation in parallel to the Tripoli-based NOC.

20 Jul 2015

Libyan Planes Sink Ship, Attack Another near Benghazi

Libyan war planes sank one ship and attacked a second vessel on Sunday near the eastern city of Benghazi, military spokesmen for the country's internationally recognized government said on Monday. There was no independent confirmation for the strike near the town of Mareesa, the latest attack on ships in Libya where two governments and parliaments are fighting for control years after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi. "The vessel was sunk because it had loaded fighters, weapons and ammunition to support terrorism in the eastern region," air force spokesman Nasser al-Hassi said early on Monday. Mohamed El Hejazi, a spokesman for Khalifa Haftar…

27 Jan 2015

Libya Returns Fuel Tanker to Rival Government

Libya's recognized government has released a tanker forced to dock at a port under its control after originally banning it from delivering fuel to its rival administration, a port official said on Tuesday. War planes forced the tanker Anwaar Afriqya to sail to Tobruk after it had originally approached the port of Misrata, the air force commander for the recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said on Monday. Libya's recognized government has worked from a headquarters in the east of the country since the summer when rival forces under the banner Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli and installed their own self-proclaimed government.

26 Jan 2015

Libya Forces Tanker Away from Supplying Rival Government

Libya's recognized government said it forced a tanker from delivering fuel to its rival administration, diverting the vessel to its own territory by threatening an air attack on it. The tanker Anwaar Afriqya was approaching the port of Misrata, but diverted to Tobruk, a port official at the latter said on Monday. "Our planes are forcing an oil tanker to sail to Tobruk after it had been on the way first to Misrata," Saqer al-Joroushi, air force commander for recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, told state news agency Lana. Libya's recognized government works from a headquarters in the east of the country since the summer when rival forces under the banner Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli and installed their own self-proclaimed government.

11 Mar 2014

Libya says halts tanker outside rebel port; rebels deny it

Rebels deny losing control of North Korean-flagged tanker; Government says tanker being taken to western port. Oil blockade has slashed vital government revenues. Libya on Monday stopped a North Korean-flagged tanker that had loaded oil from a rebel-held port, after naval forces briefly exchanged fire with the rebels, officials said. But in a sign of the chaos and conflicting information typical for Libya, rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran denied in a televised statement broadcast from a ship that he had lost control of the oil tanker. The LIbyan officials also said the government will assemble forces to "liberate" all occupied ports, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenue.

10 Mar 2014

Gov't Forces Seize Tanker at Rebel-held Port

Libyan government forces on Monday seized a tanker that had loaded crude at a port under the control of rebels who plan to sell oil independently of the Tripoli government, state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said. The North Korea-flagged shipped was being escorted to western Libya, NOC spokesman Mohammed El-Harari told Reuters, confirming Libyan media reports. Lawmaker Abdelwahab al-Qaim told Reuters: "The ship has been seized by government forces. There are no damages to the ship." A rebel spokesman had earlier denied they had lost control of the ship. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum; Editing by Anthony Barker)