Libya: PFG Threatens to Close Oil Facilities to Press Demands

FILE PHOTO: Members of the petroleum facilities guard stand inside the Libyan state National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, Libya July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of the petroleum facilities guard stand inside the Libyan state National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, Libya July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed/File Photo
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Libya: PFG Threatens to Close Oil Facilities to Press Demands

FILE PHOTO: Members of the petroleum facilities guard stand inside the Libyan state National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, Libya July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Members of the petroleum facilities guard stand inside the Libyan state National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, Libya July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed/File Photo

Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) threatened on Sunday to close all oil and gas facilities in the country's western region after the end of a 10-day deadline to authorities to meet their demands, including a 67% salary rise.

Members of PFG, a military group tasked with protecting oil facilities, made the threat in videos posted online.

Video footage on social media platforms X and Facebook showed a group of PFG members in military uniforms closing a feeder valve to the Mellitah oil complex in western Tripoli.

Mellitah is a joint venture between Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Italy's Eni. If the complex is closed, that would disrupt the supply of gas through the Greenstream pipeline between Libya and Italy.

NOC said on X that it discussed with the PFG head their demands and "understood" them, but added there "is a necessity of keeping oil installations away from any tensions".

Karim al-Ghamoudi, a member of the PFG said they closed the gate to the Zawiya refinery - also in western Tripoli - saying supply was going normally but "slowly because of crowds at the gate".
"There are only fake promises, and we want them (authorities) to listen to our demands," Ghamoudi said.
Zawiya oil refinery has a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day (bpd), and is connected to the country's 3000,000 bpd Sharara oilfield.
In January, Sharara was closed by protesters from the Fezzan region in the south, prompting the NOC to declare force majeure on the field which was reopened some days later.



Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
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Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo

Lebanon's new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new program and will work to deal with the country's financial default and public debt, according to a policy statement approved by the cabinet late on Monday.

The statement, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, said the government would work for an economical revival that could only be achieved through restructuring the banking sector.

Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.

Beirut reached a draft funding deal with IMF in 2022 - contingent on reforms that authorities failed to deliver.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who took office as part of a new government agreed earlier this month, told Reuters an IMF mission is expected to visit Lebanon in March.

Jaber said he had met the IMF's resident representative in Lebanon, Frederico Lima, and confirmed that the government plans to move ahead with reforms.

Lebanon's political landscape has been turned on its head since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, long a dominant player in Lebanese politics, was badly pummelled in last year's war with Israel.

Reflecting the shift in the power balance, the government policy statement did not include language used in previous years that was seen to legitimize a role for Hezbollah in defending Lebanon, saying instead "we want a state that has the decision of war and peace".

The statement said it was required to adopt a national security strategy and a foreign policy that works to 'neutralize' Lebanon from conflicts.

In the field of energy, the Lebanese government will seek to resume work in oil and gas exploration, according to the cabinet statement. It said the government planned to establish a Ministry of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

With a new administration in neighboring Syria, the statement said the Lebanese government believed it has an opportunity to start a serious dialogue aimed at controlling and demarcating the borders and working to resolve the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.