By Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 13 November 2013:
Zawia refinery was reopened this morning after injured revolutionaries demanding treatment abroad closed the facility yesterday.
Representatives . . .[restrict]from Zawia local council and elders of the town successfully negotiated with the protestors, spokesman for the Zawia refinery Mohamed Othman told the Libya Herald.
The entry and exit of fuel is now running as normal, he said, although the two oil refining units are not yet functioning.
The problem is, Othman said, that on Saturday some of the protesters closed the valves that bring water from the sea to cool down the refining units. “It could have been a disaster if the specialists had not shut down the units,” he said, adding that the refinery needed a completely safe environment before it could restart operations.
The Sharara field which supplies the refinery is still closed in a separate protest but, Othman said: “We still have stores, which are enough to last for at least for two weeks.” He added that there was also a tanker at the port unloading crude oil. [/restrict]