Tank fire at Ras Lanouf oil terminal in Libya

Libya oil terminal badly damaged in fighting

Libya

VIENNA, June 19, 2018 – Fighting that broke out last week in Libya has slashed oil output by about 400,000 bopd in recent days, international media reported on Tuesday.

 

“The criminals did not give our staff the permission to fight the fires properly until now,” Mustafa Sanalla, the head of the National Oil Corporation, told Reuters.

On Monday, the NOC reported that the oil port of Ras Lanuf had suffered “catastrophic damage” as rival militias battled each other in Libya’s so-called oil crescent. Two storage tanks have been destroyed, reducing storage capacity at the terminal by 400,000 barrels and sparking fears of an environmental disaster, the statement added.

The NOC declared force majeure on Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports last Thursday, when violence broke out in the area, saying at the time that production had been cut by about 240,000 bopd.