Libyan oil terminal resumes exports after strike ends

Oil exports have resumed from Libya’s Al-Hariga terminal following settlement of a strike over unpaid wages, the National Oil Corporation said on Friday.

At the same time, total oil production in the North African nation, hit by civil strife and strikes since the 2011 ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, should reach one million barrels a day (bpd) by year’s end, the NOC’s Mohamed Hrari said.

Exports at Al-Hariga in eastern Libya were suspended on Saturday after workers went on strike to demand payment of overdue salaries, with Hrari attributing the delay to fighting in the eastern city of Benghazi.

“The salaries have now been paid,” he said, adding that 400,000 barrels of crude had already been loaded aboard a Greece-bound tanker that was in port when the strike began.

Al-Hariga has a capacity of 120,000 bpd.

On output, Hrari said Libya’s production “should progressively pick up until it reaches one million barrels a day by the end of the year”.

He announced on Wednesday that production was to resume the same day at the Al-Sharara and Al-Fil fields in the southwest, where work halted last week when gunmen attacked the facilities.

Al-Sharara, one of Libya’s largest oilfields, can produce up to 350,000 barrels per day, while Al-Fil has a capacity of around 200,000 bpd.

The economy took a heavy hit when rebels blockaded export terminals in July 2013, causing output to plunge, along with all-important oil revenues.

The seizure of four terminals in pursuit of a campaign for restored autonomy for the eastern Cyrenaica region slashed output to just 200,000 bpd from 1.5 million bpd.

Under a deal with the government, the rebels returned control of two terminals in April and the remaining two in July.