Leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar has authorized a partial lifting of a months-long blockade of oil terminals to help ease power cuts, a military official loyal to him said.
The reopening of oil terminals is taking place "on the instructions of... Khalifa Haftar", General Naji al-Moghrabi, head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, announced late Tuesday, noting that for the time being, the reopening will only involve the use of stored hydrocarbons to supply electricity grids and to "maintain infrastructure, reservoirs and pipelines.
This "will allow crude stored at oil terminals to supply electric and gas grids and bring relief to citizens" who are being hit by long power cuts, Moghrabi said.
Head of press for the LNA Khalifa al-Obeidi said that Haftar’s decision to discharge oil in storage tankers at ports comes to block the Government of National Accord (GNA) under the leadership of Fayez al-Sarraj from blackmailing Libyans through cutting cash flows and oil supplies for power stations.
On January 17, pro-Haftar groups supported by the Petroleum Facilities Guard blockaded key oilfields and export terminals to demand what they called a fair share of hydrocarbon revenues.
The country's oil revenues are managed by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the central bank, both based in the capital Tripoli, which is also the seat of Libya's GNA.
The NOC has not reacted to Moghrabi's announcement, but has repeatedly called for the demilitarization of oil facilities.
According to Reuters, Moghrabi said that authorities in eastern Libya will allow limited exports from blockaded oil ports to free up storage space and enable the production of fuel for power stations.
Based on a decision by Haftar, only what was stored in tanks at the blockaded ports would be exported, Moghrabi told Reuters.
