On Saturday, Libya’s state National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced that the shutdown of oil fields and ports in the country’s eastern regions has caused losses of more than 6 billion and 440 million US dollars so far.
The NOC stated that the blockade going on for the last 167 days will affect the financial arrangements and salary provisions for the financial year 2020-2021.
On his part, the NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah, indicated that the country’s oil fields and ports will remain shut until a decision is made to lift such a blockade. It seems that foreign parties, specifically from regional countries are benefiting from the current situation.
Earlier, an official source at the NOC revealed that arrangements are still underway regarding the resumption of production in the oilfields and the resumption of exports from the Oil Crescent Region after about 5 months of closure by protesters who are opposing the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) policies.
Libya’s oil production was estimated at 1.2 million barrels a day before the shutdown.
Tribal leaders in eastern Libya closed oil ports and fields in January, accusing the GNA of using oil revenues to support armed groups against the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Oil, the lifeline of Libya’s economy, has long been a key factor in the civil war as rival authorities jostle for control of oil fields and state revenues. Libya has the ninth-largest known oil reserves in the world and the biggest oil reserves in Africa.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gadhafi.