The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, has issued a threat to close the Al-Hani oil depot unless their demands for wage increases are addressed. In a public video statement, the guards expressed unity with their counterparts across Libya, highlighting the financial difficulties they face due to insufficient wages. They criticized the delayed response from the Government of National Unity’s Prime Minister and the National Oil Corporation in improving the conditions for PFG personnel.
This development comes amid rising tensions within Libya’s oil sector. The Western Petroleum Facilities Guard has issued a warning to the Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Abdul Hamid Dbaiba, threatening to shut down three key oil facilities—the Zawiya Refinery, Mellitah Complex, and Misrata Oil Depot—unless their demands for better wages and the payment of overdue salaries are met within a five-day period. This represents the third such warning in a week, underscoring the growing discord between the guards and the government authorities.
The guards have given a firm five-day deadline for the government to respond, framing their actions as a last resort due to the government’s alleged failure to honor its promises and engage in meaningful dialogue.
Recent incidents have seen guards at the Mellitah Complex threatening to stop gas flow and close oil facilities across Libya last Wednesday. Similarly, guards in Misrata have indicated their willingness to shut down the oil complex there if their demands remain unaddressed, putting Libya’s critical oil production—and by extension, its economy and role in the global energy market—at significant risk.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s oil sector has been a focal point of internal conflict and political negotiation, with control over the nation’s oil resources often leading to power struggles among various factions and regions.
