Libya’s oil exports remained largely suspended on Thursday, according to shipping data, as the country continues to grapple with a political standoff over control of the central bank and oil revenue. However, some tankers are being permitted to load crude from storage facilities.
Engineers informed Reuters that the oil tanker Kriti Samaria is scheduled to enter Libya’s Zueitina port on Thursday evening or Friday to load 600,000 barrels of crude from storage before heading to Italy. Another tanker, the Front Jaguar, was reported to be loading crude from storage at Libya’s Brega port on Wednesday.
The current crisis stems from a political dispute that erupted on August 18 when western factions moved to oust veteran central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir, who has since fled the country. In response, eastern factions declared a shutdown of all oil output on August 26.
On Tuesday, Libya’s two legislative chambers announced they had agreed on a mechanism for resolving the dispute over the central bank, which is the sole legal depository for Libyan oil revenue and responsible for paying state salaries across the country.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC), which oversees Libya’s oil resources, reported on August 28 that total oil output had dropped by more than half from typical levels to just over 590,000 barrels per day (bpd). Current production levels remain unclear.
Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), produced approximately 1.18 million bpd of crude in July, according to OPEC data citing secondary sources.
