A Libyan rebel group is escalating a standoff with Tripoli by calling on tanker owners to lift oil at a port it has occupied and ignore a central government ban on such loading.
A Libyan rebel group is escalating a standoff with
Tripoli
by
calling on tanker owners to lift oil at a port it has occupied and ignore a
central government ban on such loading.
The move comes after Libyan officials at state-run National Oil Corp. said
Monday the navy had stopped a tanker the previous day from loading at the Es
Sider terminal. The government has banned shippers from lifting oil at several
ports in eastern
Libya
,
including Es Sider, after they fell under the control of a rebel militia
seeking autonomy for its region,
Cyrenaica
.
A letter stamped the "Government of Cyrenaica," which has been
circulated to the Libyan oil sector and seen by The Wall Street Journal, says:
"We will fully ensure the security...[of any] tanker that will enter
Libyan waters for oil lifting in the port" of Es Sider.
The document, dated Tuesday and bearing the heading of the previously unknown
Libyan Oil & Gas Corp., says any warning by National Oil Co. or the central
government "is not considered as applicable to
Cyrenaica
."
An assistant to Ibrahim Jathran, the head of the rebel militia, confirmed the
authenticity of the document.
The assistant said the "Government of Cyrenaica" was entitled to sell
the oil and was lifting what it said was its own force majeure.
But National Oil Co. spokesman Mohammed el-Hariri said the rebels "only
represent themselves."
He warned any tanker approaching occupied ports without a permit from National
Oil Co. would be stopped by the Libyan navy. "We ask all companies to deal
with the Libyan government, not to deal with other entities," he said.
Libyan oil production has dropped sharply since the militia took over several
ports on the country's eastern coast four months ago. Despite the country's oil
output hitting 546,000 barrels a day Tuesday, production remains well below its
normal level of 1.5 million barrels day.
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