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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli 30 July 2014:
Despite the ongoing violence in eastern Libya and now in the west, the country’s oilfields . . .[restrict]are not only secure but are pumping crude oil at around 500,000 barrels per day (b/d), an official from the Libyan Oil Ministry said on Tuesday.
The better economic news contrasts sharply the with political one in which for nearly three months now, intense fighting between retired General Khalifa Hafter’s “Operation Dignity” forces and Ansar Al-Sharia and its allies has raged in Benghazi in the east, where many oil ports are based, while recent clashes in Tripoli between forces led by Misrata-based Central Region Libya Shield and Zintani brigades have together pushed Libya into the worst violence since the revolution.
Director of planning at the Libyan Oil Ministry Samir Salim Kamal told Reuters: “I can confirm that all the oilfields are safe and that production is still around 500,000 b/d.”
He was unable to say which day the figure referred to or to offer further details.
Just two weeks ago, oil production had risen to 588,000 b/d, but it has fallen since the fighting started over Tripoli International Airport.
Libyan oil production had returned to 1.5 million b/d after the revolution, but was cut drastically in the summer of 2013 by various industrial and political demonstrations and blockades, including the longstanding blockade of the eastern oil ports by the federalist Ibrahim Jadhran.
According to the official Facebook page of the Libyan Oil Ministry, the Brega oil port is fully operational. [/restrict]
