Oil output from Libya, where ports and oilfields have been shut due to fighting, has fallen to 363,000 barrels a day with exports at about 200,000, the oil minister appointed by forces in control of the capital Tripoli told Reuters.

Two governments allied to armed factions are vying for control of Libya four years after the toppling of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The United Nations and Western powers do not recognise the administration which controls ministries in Tripoli.

Its oil minister, Mashallah Zwai, told Reuters in an interview that Libya is producing 362,780 bpd of oil, showing a report from the National Oil Corp.

That is down by half from November, when OPEC member Libya was producing around 750,000 barrels a day, and well below the 1.6 million which the North African country produced in 2010.

Zwai said oil revenues would fall to between $10 billion and $12 billion this year after slumping to $15 billion in 2014 when Libya suffered a budget deficit of $19 billion.

Output has fallen since facilities such as the El Sharara oilfield and the ports of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider were shut down due to nearby clashes or pipeline blockages.

Foreign oil buyers have been confused over who is in charge since a faction called Libya Dawn took over the capital in August, forcing Libya’s recognised prime minister and elected assembly to move to the east of the country.

Zwai works in the old minister’s Tripoli office in a building which also houses the NOC.

He said some 150,000 bpd of crude was being used for domestic refineries and that the biggest one in Zawiya was producing 110,000 bpd, just 10,000 short of its maximum capacity.

He said the biggest contributors were Arabian Gulf Co (AGOCO) which was producing 131,547 bpd from fields in Libya’s far east and the Hariga port which has largely escaped the violence gripping other parts of the country.

The Sirte Oil Co is producing 54,000 bpd through the eastern port of Brega to supply the Zawiya refinery, the NOC figures showed.

Libya’s conflict also involves tribal loyalties, federalist movements and rival political groups often allied to their cities or regions.

That has complicated UN efforts to bring the recognised government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and Libya Dawn fully into negotiations in Geneva over a unity government. Talks are due to restart on Monday.

STORAGE FIRE

Zwai said his government wanted to keep the conflict out of state firm NOC by retaining a decades-old payment system through the country’s Tripoli-based central bank. All contracts with oil firms would be honoured, he said.

The Thinni government has announced plans to set up new bank accounts in the eastern region in a bid to control the flow of oil revenues.

Zwai said such a move risked breaking up Libya.

“If they want partition we are ready for this, but we don’t want partition because we are thinking of Libya’s interest,” he said.

The minister also warned that his tribe, the Zwaiya, was in control of major oilfields in the east should a federalist movement allied to Thinni’s government push for partition of that region.

“If they want partition I have a clear message: we the Zwaiya tribe own all oil ports and resources (in the east) which we won’t allow to get broken up,” he said.

Zwai said 500,000 barrels of oil was destroyed after a rocket struck storage tanks at Es Sider in December, leaving three millions of barrels still stored there.

That is lower than a loss of up to 1.5 million barrels estimated by eastern officials.

Oil guards loyal to Thinni have prevented the administration in Tripoli from lifting the two million barrels ready for shipment from the tanks.

Each side has blamed the other for the rocket strike.

20 Comments on "Libya Producing 363,000 Barrels per Day"

Plantagenet on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 6:40 pm 



Maybe if Obama started bombing them again and hitting them with drone missiles again it would somehow help?

GregT on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 6:49 pm 



Obama is a politician Plant. He is not a military strategist, or a soldier.

Plantagenet on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 7:04 pm 



You’ve got that right, GregT. Even Obama himself admitted he had no strategy.

Blowing people up seems to be O’s default position for dealing with troublespots around the globe.

Speculawyer on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 7:07 pm 



“Obama is a politician Plant.”

What is that supposed to mean? Is that illuminati conspiracy nuttiness or something? He’s the elected president.

“He is not a military strategist, or a soldier.”

Indeed. He’s the Commander in Chief.

GregT on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 7:39 pm 



If Obama died tomorrow, the bombs would continue to be dropped and the drones would continue to be used to murder other people.

The commander in chief will be replaced by another commander in chief. The military strategists, and their soldiers, will continue killing people for long after Obama is gone. Many of the strategies that we are watching unfold right now, have been in the making for decades, some from back when Obama was still in grade school.

Just because you are unable to comprehend something Spec, does not immediately make it a nutty, illuminati, conspiracy theory.

Plantagenet on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 8:41 pm 



Spec is 100% right on this one, GregT.

Obama is indeed the “Commander in Chief”. Every aspect of US policy is his responsibility. The wars in Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and Syria have all be started at his command. The giant surge into Afghanistan was ordered by Obama. Every drone attack is done on his orders.

Sadly, trying to conduct foreign policy by blowing people has, for the most part, been a total failure. Libya is exhibit #1 showing that Obama’s policy of blowing people does not result in stable democratic foreign states.

antaris on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 11:37 pm 



What, and Bush was a saint?

GregT on Mon, 26th Jan 2015 11:43 pm 



All I can do is shake my head Plant. Blowing people up has been US foreign policy since the 50s, a decade before Obama was even born. Peace, freedom, justice and democracy have never been the motivators for US foreign policy, just as they have never been the motivating factors throughout history for any empirical power.

Above all else Plant, your fixation on Obama borders on psychological disorder.

Perk Earl on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 1:26 am 



“Libya is exhibit #1 showing that Obama’s policy of blowing people does not result in stable democratic foreign states.”

The civil war in Libya began without consulting Obama. He merely made a military decision once it began to help the rebels oust Qadaffi, who used the country as his personal piggy bank, not even bothering to help educate people. What the Libyan’s did after deposing Qadaffi was entirely up to them. Since then all they seem to be able to do is engage in tribal warfare for possession of the oil.

GregT on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 1:54 am 



Hmmm Perk,

“Since then all they seem to be able to do is engage in tribal warfare for possession of the oil.”

Sounds kind of familiar, wouldn’t you say? I mean honestly, why else would we have killed over a million people in the Middle East, if it wasn’t to gain possession of their oil?

Spec9 on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 2:02 am 



Greg, yes, the same things would happen because Biden would take over and have similar policies. He probably would change some things. Again, no nutty conspiracy theory needed. But manufacture one if it helps you sleep at night.

Davy on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 6:04 am 



Don’t forget to mention the lead the Europeans had to take. Obama insisted on this being a European/Nato spearheaded campaign. Obama was in the disengage mode and did not want to get sucked into another war without others stepping up. He was tired of the blame game the global political system is so good at. I remember all the shit Obama was getting for dragging his feet. It is a bitch being the world policeman because you are damned if you do damned if you don’t. Conflicts always seems to be a US issues but last I checked the world is politically and economically interconnected. In the case of Libya that was a European war the US had to assist with because Europe’s military lacks the means to conduct that kind of action. Let’s not forget the friends that supported Gadhafi for so many years and allowed a gutting of that part of North Africa with a horrible political situation. The Chinese and Russians come to mind as they always do with horrible regimes. Kind of reminds me of the Russians now with the horrible Assad regime. You can criticize the US in the ME but don’t forget Russia that has been a spoiler since the cold war. Now this Libya is becoming a failed state and it is all America’s fault. Same old bullshit another day. I accept the US was part of the sin but Libya is not Iraq. The US bears all responsibilities for the sins in Iraq but not Libya

GregT on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 8:07 am 



Spec,

Obama and Biden both do not write foreign policy. Honestly, you live in the US and you don’t understand how your own government works?

Davy on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 8:21 am 



Greg, are you saying they have no input? Because I will disagree with that statement just as I will disagree with them running the show.

GregT on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 8:29 am 



Of course they have input Davy. The Pres has the ultimate word, obviously, but the buck doesn’t stop at the President. The POTUS has a very fine line to walk.

Davy on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 8:44 am 



Just checking sometimes you give the impression unintentionally he is a complete puppet. I think you and I are both on the same page that the leadership is oriented by the deep dark state. The reality of the POTUS is they are in the position to pull the triggers and take responsibility. This is absurd because they are not in ultimate control but only a tool and trigger for the system. They can make major independent decisions but at their own risk. Most presidents are smart enough to just play the game.

steve on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 10:06 pm 



Davy and Greg I wish what you say about the deep state wasn’t true…but over the years of connecting dots and it appears so. I used to be a political animal but now I know that politics is a smokescreen…the deep state will probably elect clinton because it will keep people like Plant constantly blaming her for all the worlds problems…it needs to be a controversial person in office.

GregT on Tue, 27th Jan 2015 11:48 pm 



Steve,

When Hillary gets installed in the White House everything will be right in Plant’s world.

Davy on Wed, 28th Jan 2015 4:21 am 



Steve, unfortunately our system has been corrupted. This is nothing more than the evolution of an ecosystem through its cycles. All civilizations run through cycles. Ours has made it to that point of complete corruption. This is true globally because all nations are dependent on all others in a global interconnection at least for now. The global is in the same corruption and a source of this corruption. There is no hope for political BAU nationally or globally. Let us hope this corruption does not kill us in a global suicide so when collapse comes many locals can break out into a new moral and ethical arrangement i.e. a rebirth.

GregT on Wed, 28th Jan 2015 7:58 am 



I think that a very large part of the problem stems from the anonymity inherent in large population numbers. That and the corporately controlled media. We have no idea as to who these people really are, other than what we have been lead to believe by those who control the television we watch in our living rooms.