The unrecognised government in eastern Libya has shipped its first cargo of crude oil in defiance of UN-backed authorities in the capital, Tripoli, in a move that could deepen the divisions that have brought chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
The Tripoli government asked the security council on Tuesday to
blacklist the Indian-flagged tanker Distya Ameya, which left the eastern
Libyan port of Hariga carrying oil they said could not be lawfully
sold.
The eastern government has set up its own National Oil Corporation (NOC) to act in parallel to the Tripoli-based NOC that is
recognised internationally as the only legitimate seller of Libyan oil.
The tanker departed Hariga carrying 650,000 barrels of crude late on
Monday bound for Malta, said Mohamed al-Manfi, a spokesman for the
eastern NOC.
Maltese national TV said the ship was in international waters near
Malta. The island’s Port Directorate said the tanker was not authorised
to dock there and requests would be refused.
The ship last reported its position through the publicly available
AIS tracking system earlier on Tuesday as still in Libyan waters.
Libya’s economy depends almost exclusively on oil export revenue and
the fight over who controls those funds has driven chronic instability
and civil war since long-serving autocrat Gaddafi was toppled and killed
by western-backed rebels in 2011.
Parallel parliaments and governments have operated in Tripoli and
the east since 2014. Much of the country is in the hands of dozens of
armed groups loyal to one or other government, while small areas are
controlled by Islamic State fighters.
Political division, labour disputes and security threats have reduced
Libya’s oil output to less than a quarter of the 1.6 million barrels per
day produced before the uprising.
A UN-backed unity government, which arrived in the capital last
month, includes figures from across Libya’s divides but has not yet been
fully accepted by either of the two loose alliances fighting for power
since 2014.
It was not immediately clear how the eastern NOC could conduct a sale
given the international opposition. One possibility might be to attempt
a ship-to-ship transfer in international waters.
"We are concerned about purchases of Libyan oil outside of
legitimate channels,” US state department spokesman John Kirby said on
Tuesday, emphasising that all sales should go through the Tripoli-based
National Oil Corporation.
The United States has stopped unauthorised sales of Libyan oil in the
past, sending special forces in 2014 to board a tanker off Cyprus
loaded with crude shipped by a group pressing for more autonomy in
eastern Libya. The US troops forced that ship to return.
Another senior US official declined to be drawn on whether
Washington might undertake a similar operation, saying it would "look at
all appropriate mechanisms to address the situation”.
If the shipment went through it could spark copycat sales that would further shrink the unity government’s revenues.
"That’s very bad for Libya and very threatening, potentially, to the
viability of any Libyan government,” the second US official said on
condition of anonymity.
Among US concerns are that such oil sales could fund arms purchases by those resisting the unity government’s authority.
The official said the United States and other nations could impose
sanctions on those found to violate UN security council resolutions on
Libya, though he did not provide details.
The eastern NOC has long been trying to sell its own oil, but until
now those efforts have been blocked by the NOC in Tripoli with the
support of western countries.
The NOC in Tripoli says any sale by its eastern rival would breach
UN security council resolutions and put the future of Libya’s economy at
risk.
NOC Tripoli officials said on Tuesday they had notified the United
Nations, countries with naval forces in the Mediterranean and a unity
government now working in Tripoli that the shipment had not been
authorised and should be stopped.
"We have done our job and we are waiting for them to do theirs,” said spokesman Mohamed al-Harari.
The NOC in Tripoli has continued to run oil production throughout
the crisis that followed Gaddafi’s fall, with the funds paying state
salaries across Libya, including many of the rival armed groups, which
have generally been granted official status.
The Tripoli NOC has retained international backing and says it is
working to plan future oil sales with the new UN-backed unity
government.
News of the eastern NOC’s effort to export its first shipment of oil
emerged late last week, when the NOC in Tripoli said it had prevented
port workers from loading oil on to the Distya Ameya.
It said the shipment had been ordered for a company called DSA Consultancy FZC, registered in the United Arab Emirates.
(www.theguardian.com)