Libya's largest oil port Es Sider is now receiving supplies from
oil fields after the terminal resumed exports despite intense
fighting in the capital of Tripoli.
An oil official in Tripoli said late Thursday that the Waha Oil
Co. was supplying 22,000 barrels a day to the Es Sider terminal in
eastern Libya, after oil in storage at the port started to be
shipped last week, ending a one-year stoppage.
The Waha Oil Co. is a partnership between Libya's National Oil
Co. and U.S. companies Marathon Oil Corp., Hess Corp. and
ConocoPhillips. It had previously been producing about 3,000
barrels a day used for maintenance and small supplies to the
neighboring Brega oil terminal, the official said. But all Waha Oil
Co.'s oil flows have now been redirected to Es Sider, the official
said.
Libya's oil production has jumped to above 600,000 barrels a
day--four times the level in late May--after deals between the
government and protesters led to the reopening of fields and ports
such as Es Sider.
Libya's oil industry is steadily recovering despite fighting
between rival militias in Tripoli and the country's second largest
city of Benghazi. In the latest development, a militia hailing from
the Western coastal city of Misrata and its allies claimed to have
wrested control of Tripoli's international airport over the weekend
from a rival armed group. The takeover, which was confirmed by
residents in Tripoli, came despite aerial bombing of the Misrata
militia's camps on Saturday.
Write to Benoît Faucon benoit.faucon@wsj.com
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