By LIbya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 8 February 2015:
Libya’s already battered oil income has suffered a further blow with the closure of Hariga, . . .[restrict]its last significant oil export terminal, because of a strike over unpaid salaries.
The terminal near Tobruk, with a capacity of 120,000 b/d has by and large escaped disruption thanks to its easterly position. In particular it has been unaffected by the attempted seizure by Libya Dawn of the Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil terminals and facilities.
However the port was closed on Saturday morning by striking security guards who complained they have not been paid. Reuters has reported that an unnamed tanker was being prevented from taking on 750,000 barrels of oil.
The loss of sales from Hariga means that the country’s hydrocarbon production may now be less than 150,000 b/d and much of this is being refined for local use. Even so Libya is now importing large quantities of petrol and diesel as well as liquid petroleum gas.
The greater part of the remaining state income comes from the sale of gas from the Wafa field. It was wrongly reported in this paper that the field’s Italian operator Eni had withdrawn its staff days after the deadly attack on the Mabrouk field. Normally reliable sources mistook a routine rotation of staff between Libya and Malta as an evacuation.
Eni has told the Libya Herald that, with the exception of Abu Attifel, all the Wafa fields are producing with output running at around 260,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The offshore Bahr Essalam field was also in production.
The Eni-operted Mellitah treatment and compressor plant was running at 90 percent capacity. The majority of its gas goes to Italy via the GreenStream pipeline with the remained being used to fuel the 400MW Ruwais power station. [/restrict]
