By Tom Westcott.
Tripoli, 28 October 2013:
Exports from the Mellitah oil terminal have remained at a standstill for a second day and . . .[restrict]production at the complex is running at half capacity, according to an industry source.
Some 80 Amazigh from Zuawara gained access to the terminal, apparently via the sea, on Saturday night and stopped exports from the complex. They are demanding more seats in the 60-member Constitutional Committee. Only two seats have been reserved for the Amizigh community.
The protestors are occupying part of the Mellitah complex, which is operated by Italian oil company ENI and the National Oil Company (NOC). They are preventing oil tankers from docking at the port. One ship, understood to be a Spanish vessel, is berthed at the terminal but remains only half loaded.
The Mellitah complex has the capacity to produce 160,000 barrels per day (bpd). It is not clear what production figures were before the protest but the source said that production had halved since the arrival of the Amazigh.
The gas export pipeline to Italy is still running as normal, the source confirmed to the Libya Herald. However, he said protestors were threatening to close the pipeline on Sunday if their demands were not met.
Local people, Mellitah staff, government representatives and tribal elders were all trying to negotiate with the protestors, the source added. [/restrict]
