Libya says Zawiya refinery cuts output, no impact on gasoline supplies

Libya's 120,000-barrel-per-day Zawiya refinery has cut production to about 65 percent of capacity but this will not affect gasoline supplies for the local market, officials said on Saturday.

A protest by security guards has halted production at the 340,000-bpd El Sharara oilfield, which feeds the refinery but has been plagued for months by protests and stoppages.

The Zawiya refinery, located west of Tripoli, supplies the capital and western Libya with gasoline and other products.

Mohammed El Harari, spokesman for the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), said the refinery's production was now at around 80,000 bpd due to maintenance work.

"Production was reduced for maintenance but the gasoline unit is working at full capacity," he said. He said the refinery still had sufficient stocks from El Sharara and was also being supplied by cargoes from the port of Brega in the east.

A Reuters reporter saw two tankers docked at Zawiya's oil port on Saturday. Port controller Abdullah Rashid said one tanker had brought around 25,000 tonnes of imported gasoil and a second ship around 30,000 tonnes of gasoline.

The refinery is also due to get additional supplies from a tanker that had loaded crude at Es Sider, which is under control of rebel forces in Libya's east.

The ship initially managed to evade Libya's navy and escape into international waters, but was eventually stopped by the U.S. navy off Cyprus and was now being returned to Libya, officials said.

The tanker was expected to arrive in Zawiya on Sunday or Monday after first docking in Tripoli, Rashid said.