By Hadi Fornaji.
Tripoli, 4 July:
Zway tribesmen are reported to have stopped oil production on Tuesday in three oilfields in eastern Libya . . .[restrict]in protest at continued clashes in Kufra.
The move follows a warning four days ago from Zway leaders in Kufra. They said that if the government and NTC did not take decisive action to put an end to the violence in the town within 72 hours, they would stop oil flowing.
Clashes have been on-going in the south-eastern oasis town since February. They first erupted as a smuggling turf war between the town’s small but well-armed Tebu community and the majority Zway tribe, but then developed into a war of attrition between the Tebus and the Libya Shield forces sent in by the authorities to restore law and order. The Zway are accused by the Tebus of fighting alongside the Shield forces.
The three fields are said to include Wintershall’s Nafura C96 concession at Jakhira and the nearby concession in the Amal field held by Harouge (formerly Veba) Oil.
With a population of around 6,000, the oasis of Jakhira is also mainly inhabited by the Zway, although located just 250 kilometres from Ajdabiya and several hundred from Kufra. “Inevitably, what is going on in Kufra is impacting in Jakhira,” said Abdulmenem Sbeta from Wintershall. The Zway, he said, were a tough people and those in Jakhira had played a “heroic role” during the revolution, protecting the interests of Wintershall, for which the company was “highly appreciative”.
Oil production in the C96 concession and the neighbouring C97 area which Wintershall have had since 1962, was running at 120,000 barrels a day (b/d) three years ago but was reduced to 85,000 b/d following NOC pressure. It is now around 75,000 b/d.
The Zway have the means to control production in both Nafura and Amal fields. They are the security guards in the former and the latter is just a hour’s drive away.
The Zway are also threatening to stop water following in the Man-made River in their attempts to force the government to take decisive action in Kufra. As with the oil, they have the means, even though the source of the water is in a Tebu controlled area; the pipeline passes through Zway areas, which means they can turn off the pumps and prevent the water heading north. [/restrict]
