Oil Tanker Approved for Entry into Libya's Zueitina Port

A general view of Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company in Ras Lanuf, Libya, August 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Hadad
A general view of Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company in Ras Lanuf, Libya, August 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Hadad
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Oil Tanker Approved for Entry into Libya's Zueitina Port

A general view of Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company in Ras Lanuf, Libya, August 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Hadad
A general view of Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Company in Ras Lanuf, Libya, August 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Al-Hadad

Oil tanker Kriti Samaria has been approved for entry into Libya's Zueitina port on Thursday evening or Friday to load 600,000 barrels of crude oil and will head to Italy, engineers told Reuters.

The tanker will be permitted to load oil from storage, the engineers said, without providing further detail.

Libya's two legislative chambers said on Tuesday they had agreed a mechanism for resolving the dispute over control of the central bank.
Libyan crude exports have been largely shut for more than a week amid a political showdown over control of the central bank, which is the sole legal depository for Libyan oil revenue and pays state salaries across the country.
Another tanker, the Front Jaguar, was loading crude from storage at Libya's Brega port, engineers told Reuters on Wednesday.

The crisis was triggered when western factions moved on Aug. 18 to oust veteran central bank governor Sadiq al-Kabir, who has since fled the country. Eastern factions responded by declaring a shutdown to all oil output on Aug. 26.
The National Oil Corporation, which oversees the country's oil resources, said on Aug. 28 that total oil output had dropped by more than half from typical levels to just over 590,000 bpd. It was not immediately clear where current production stood.
A member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Libya produced about 1.18 million barrels per day of crude in July, according to OPEC, citing secondary sources.



China Offers Africa $51 Bln in Fresh Funding

China's President Xi Jinping (C) delivers a speech during the opening of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 05 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
China's President Xi Jinping (C) delivers a speech during the opening of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 05 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
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China Offers Africa $51 Bln in Fresh Funding

China's President Xi Jinping (C) delivers a speech during the opening of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 05 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
China's President Xi Jinping (C) delivers a speech during the opening of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 05 September 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday to step up China's support to the world's fastest-growing continent with funding of nearly $51 billion, backing for more infrastructure initiatives and a promise to create at least 1 million jobs.

The world's biggest two-way lender, Beijing showed a desire to move away from funding big-ticket infrastructure and focus instead on selling to developing economies the advanced and green technologies in which Chinese firms have invested heavily.

Still, Xi told delegates from more than 50 African nations that the world's second-largest economy would carry out 30 infrastructure projects across the resource-rich continent, and offer 360 billion yuan ($50.70 billion) in financial assistance, Reuters reported.
"China is ready to deepen cooperation with Africa in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment," Xi told delegates at a major China-Africa summit in Beijing.
He called for "a China-Africa network featuring land-sea links and co-ordinated development," as he told Chinese contractors to return to the 1-billion-strong continent, after the lifting of COVID-19 curbs that disrupted its schemes.
Last year, China approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa, in the first annual increase since 2016.
Xi said 210 billion yuan of the financing pledge would be disbursed through credit lines and at least 70 billion in fresh investment by Chinese companies, with smaller amounts provided through military aid and other projects.
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, held this year in the Chinese capital, chalks out a three-year program for China and every African state bar Eswatini, which retains ties to Taiwan.
Besides 30 infrastructure connectivity projects, Xi added, "China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa," offering to co-operate on nuclear technology and tackle a power deficit that has delayed industrialization efforts.
But the Chinese leader did not reiterate his pledge at the 2021 forum in Dakar for the Asian giant to buy $300 billion worth of African goods, pledging only to unilaterally expand market access.