On Sunday, the EXPLORER, a crude oil tanker docked in eastern Libya Hariga oil terminal headed to China, began loading one million barrels of oil.
An official source at the port stated that today’s production rate from the Masala and Sarir fields reached 230,000 barrels of crude oil. The oil reaches the Libya port, which is owned by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) via a 513 km pipeline, which has a diameter of 34 inches.
The source confirmed that the shipping and export operations are carried out according to precautionary measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as to preserve the environment, “which is one of the company’s most important priorities.”
Last month, the Libya Workers’ Union of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Benghazi demanded the quick payment of four months of overdue salaries.
In a statement, the union denounced what it described as “unfair treatment and deliberate marginalisation” by the NOC, of the rights of workers.
They demanded the immediate settlement of their financial and administrative situation, in order to implement the decision of the NOC’s Chairman, Mustafa Sanalla. This was issued in September 2021, to unify the NOC’s administrations in Tripoli and Benghazi and urgently redistribute them to the concerned companies.
The NOC also announced that the country’s revenues of oil and gas exports reached more than $21.5 billion in 2021, the highest level in five years.
The state-run NOC said that the total net revenue for oil and gas exports last year amounted to $21.5 billion dollars, as well as €30 million in non-dollar sales.
Since the 1970s, Libya, which sits on the largest known oil reserves in Africa, has been heavily dependent on revenues from its hydrocarbon exports.
However, in a decade of violence since the 2011 revolt that overthrew longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi, armed groups have frequently blockaded or damaged oil installations. The shutdowns have forced the NOC to declare force majeure, a legal move allowing it to free itself from contractual obligations in light of factors beyond its control.