Oil Tanker Loading Crude at Libya’s Brega Port, Engineers Say

 A view of pipelines and a loading berth of the Marsa al Hariga oil port in the city of Tobruk, east of Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 20, 2013. (Reuters)
A view of pipelines and a loading berth of the Marsa al Hariga oil port in the city of Tobruk, east of Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 20, 2013. (Reuters)
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Oil Tanker Loading Crude at Libya’s Brega Port, Engineers Say

 A view of pipelines and a loading berth of the Marsa al Hariga oil port in the city of Tobruk, east of Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 20, 2013. (Reuters)
A view of pipelines and a loading berth of the Marsa al Hariga oil port in the city of Tobruk, east of Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 20, 2013. (Reuters)

The 600,000-barrel oil tanker Front Jaguar was loading at Libya's Brega port on Wednesday, engineers told Reuters and Kpler data showed, despite a blockade that has halted other exports.

The tanker was permitted to load oil from storage after exports had been halted at major Libyan ports, the engineers said, without giving further details.

Crude exports at major Libyan ports have been shut for nearly a week and oil output has plummeted since eastern authorities in the divided country ordered a shutdown to all oil production on Aug. 26.

The eastern authorities' declaration was in response to western factions moving to oust veteran Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Governor Sadiq al-Kabir and replace him with a rival board.

Libya's two legislative chambers said on Tuesday they had agreed a mechanism for resolving the dispute over control of the CBL, which receives revenue from Libya's oil exports, the vast bulk of the national wealth.

Crude exports remained halted at Zueitina port on Wednesday but the 5,000 tons-capacity tanker Gaz United was expected to arrive there on Thursday to load propane, engineers there told Reuters on Wednesday.

The crisis over control of the CBL threatens to spiral and could end a four-year period of relative peace in the major oil exporter long split between factions in its east and west.

The National Oil Corporation, which controls Libya's oil resources, declared force majeure at the 70,000 barrels per day El Feel oilfield on Monday. Reuters had reported last week that output was halted there.

NOC said on Aug. 28 that total oil output dropped by more than half from typical levels to just over 590,000 bpd. It was not immediately clear where current production stood.

Reuters reported on Saturday that Libya's Sarir, Messla and Nafoura oilfields had been ordered to resume production by their operator, Arabian Gulf Oil Company, an NOC subsidiary.

About 150,000 barrels per day of output from Sarir and Messla was arriving at Hariga port for local consumption, while any excess was being stored, engineers at the fields said on Wednesday.



Heads of CIA, MI6 Issue Joint Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

Displaced woman Iqbal Al-Zeidi stands in front of her tent which was torn by an Israeli strike, on the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Displaced woman Iqbal Al-Zeidi stands in front of her tent which was torn by an Israeli strike, on the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Heads of CIA, MI6 Issue Joint Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

Displaced woman Iqbal Al-Zeidi stands in front of her tent which was torn by an Israeli strike, on the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Displaced woman Iqbal Al-Zeidi stands in front of her tent which was torn by an Israeli strike, on the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

The heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies said Saturday they are “working ceaselessly” for a ceasefire in Gaza, using a rare joint public statement to press for peace.

CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.”

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, the two spymasters said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”

Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the fighting, traveling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a hostage deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.

So far there has been no agreement, though United States officials insist a deal is close.

Burns and Moore also stressed the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the face of “an unprecedented array of threats,” including an assertive Russia, an ever-more powerful China and the constant threat from international terrorism — all complicated by rapid technological change.

They highlighted Russia’s “reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe and the “cynical use of technology to spread lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us.”

The article is the first joint opinion piece by the heads of the two spy agencies. The two directors pointed to a new era of openness in their secretive field, noting that the CIA and MI6 both declassified intelligence about Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine before Moscow attacked its neighbor in February 2022.