Protests Shut Two Oil Terminals in Libya

Protests have forced the shutdown of two crude oil export terminals in Libya after protesters demanded the move and authorities heeded the demand.

Per a Bloomberg report, the shutdown will begin later today at the Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals, with one tanker already canceling loading, according to unnamed local sources.

The protests this time are led by a group called the Oil Crescent Region Movement, which earlier this month demanded that the headquarters of five local energy companies be transferred to the western Libyan region that, as the name suggests, is home to most of the country’s oil industry.

The Oil Crescent Region Movement threatened to block production and exports at all five terminals in the region—and the country—if the National Oil Corporation did not fulfill its demands.

The National Oil Corporation has not issued an official comment on these recent events. In said in a production update on Monday that daily output stood at 1.41 million barrels daily, with condensate production at some 43,700 barrels daily, which put the combined crude plus condensates output at 1.65 million barrels daily.

Libya’s authorities want to boost that output even further, for which purpose the National Oil Corporation will hold a tender for 22 new onshore and offshore exploration blocks. Hopes are that the tender would attract international oil companies despite the still unstable political situation and the constant danger of field and export terminal blockades by groups unhappy with the distribution of oil wealth.

Meanwhile, government plans are to boost daily crude oil production to 2 million barrels this year, despite the persistent challenges. Given that Libyan producers managed to bring the total daily from around 1.3 million bpd last November to over 1.6 million bpd this month, the target appears realistic—unless protests interfere with it.