GulfBase Live Support
27/02/2018 07:57 AST
Libya’s oil exports from the Mellitah terminal will be “modified” after protests disrupted production at the key El Feel deposit for the first time in two months, putting the Opec nation’s crude production at risk of a decline again.
Crude loading at Mellitah, the export terminal for El Feel, would be modified after force majeure was declared on deliveries from the deposit on February 23, the state-run National Oil Corporation said in a document obtained by Bloomberg. NOC said Saturday guards at the field were protesting over pay and other benefits. Force majeure is a legal clause protecting a party from liability if it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.
Production at El Feel, operated by a joint venture of NOC and Italy’s Eni, was last disrupted for one day in December due to a power outage. The field has production capacity of 90,000 barrels a day, but it’s not clear what output was before the outage. NOC officials were not immediately available to comment.
Libya, a member of Opec, was allowed to increase oil production while other nations in the group cut output to curb a global glut. The North African nation’s output earlier this month was 1.1 million bpd, the highest since June 2013, a person familiar said on February 15. Oil finished a second week of gains on Friday after news that El Feel was shut and American supplies drained.
Mellitah was set to load four cargoes this month, each holding about 600,000 barrels, according to a loading program seen by Bloomberg. One vessel was scheduled to be loaded February 21 to 23.
With a fragile political accord barely holding the country together, Libya faces an array of challenges preventing its return to the output levels of about 1.8m bpd pumped in 2008. Pipelines and other facilities are targeted by armed factions and tribal groups jostling for political control and a share of oil revenue. El Feel was briefly shut in August after an armed group closed its pipeline, prompting the NOC to declare force majeure.
NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla said El Feel guards were under the Ministry of Defence and it needed to respond to their demands. The shutdown and evacuation of employees from El Feel came after the "deterioration of the security situation as members of Fazzan group from the Petroleum Facility Guards threatened workers, entered the administrative offices in the field and tampered with official papers of the field administration" and fired shots into the air, the NOC said Saturday.
The National
Ticker | Price | Volume |
---|---|---|
SABIC | 114.77 | 5,915,941 |
(In US Dollar) | Change | Change(%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Brent | 68.12 | -2.02 | -2.88 |
WTI | 63.51 | 0.5 | 0.79 |
OPEC Basket | 64.98 | -1.5 | -2.26 |
05/04/2018
Opec crude production dropped to the lowest in a year amid the woes in Venezuela’s oil industry. Output from the 14 members of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell by 170,000 barrels to
Gulf News
03/04/2018
Oil’s rally above $65 a barrel is being propelled by a sign that American explorers have curtailed drilling activity as well as ongoing speculation that the US could reimpose sanctions on Opec produc
Gulf News
29/03/2018
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is seeking “very long-term” cooperation with other crude exporters, the secretary general of the oil exporting group said on Wednesday.
The Gulf Today
28/03/2018
Saudi Arabia and Russia are working on a long-term oil pact that could extend controls over world crude supplies by major exporters for up to 20 years, the Kingdom’s crown prince has said.
Arab News
27/03/2018
International oil prices are likely to tick up into the “high-sixties” further into 2018, according to Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, (pictured) Minister of Oil and Gas. Speaking at the opening of t
Oman Daily Observer