East Libyan forces target rivals with air strikes

BENGHAZI: East Libyan forces carried out air strikes around major oil ports on Saturday as they sought to regain control of the area from a rival faction, a military spokesman said.

The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and allied forces retreated on Friday from Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, two of Libya’s largest export terminals, as a faction known as the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) attacked.

The assault raised the prospect of a new escalation of violence around the ports, putting at risk a sharp boost to Libya’s oil production achieved after the LNA took over four ports in September, ending a blockade at three of them.

Libya’s oil production has been fluctuating around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than double its output last year but well under the 1.6 million bpd the Opec member was producing before a 2011 uprising.

Though Es Sider and Ras Lanuf have been reopened, they were badly damaged and are operating well below capacity. It was not clear if the BDB had gained control over them.

“The ports are closed and most of the engineers returned to their homes,” a port official in Ras Lanuf said.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli said it met on Friday to look at ways to protect oil facilities in the area and to review loading schedules. There are no tankers known to be trying to dock at the ports, but shipping sources said one is due to arrive at Es Sider on March 7 to load 630,000 barrels for Austria’s OMV.

In response to the BDB advance, air strikes were carried out in Ras Lanuf, Es Sidra, Ben Jawad and Harawa overnight and into Saturday, LNA spokesman Ahmed al Mismari said.

The BDB are composed partly of fighters who were ousted by the LNA in Benghazi, where LNA commander Khalifa Haftar has been waging a military campaign for nearly three years against extremists and other opponents.

NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a statement on Saturday “concrete steps” were needed to protect Libya’s oil assets.

“The National Oil Corporation and its facilities should not become a bargaining chip in the country’s political conflicts and the oil sector should be made neutral in relation to these conflicts,” he said.