Libyan Authorities Evacuate Tankers From Tripoli After Apparent Strike at Port -- Update
February 18 2020 - 9:58AM
Dow Jones News
By Benoit Faucon
Libyan authorities ordered the immediate departure of tankers
from Tripoli's port after a rebel faction claimed responsibility
for an attack at the facility, oil officials said Tuesday.
The stoppage threatens a key lifeline for the country's
embattled government. Tripoli, the seat of power for Libya's
central government, has been under attack since last year from
forces led by renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar. The general's
army recently blocked most of the country's oil production and
transport--the source of virtually all its revenue--in retaliation
for a Turkish intervention on the government's side.
One liquefied-petroleum-gas carrier and three gasoline vessels
"were instructed to leave Tripoli port immediately," said an
official with Libya's National Oil Co., the state-run company that
controls oil production and fuel supplies in the country.
Containers at a dock nearby were hit by an apparent strike,
another official said. Videos and pictures posted by local
television channel FebruaryTV and security website Conflict News
showed the onshore facilities were on fire.
Gen. Haftar's Libyan National Army claimed it had carried out an
attack on a Turkish arms cargo.
"The Turkish ship loaded with weapons and ammunition that landed
this morning in the port of Tripoli was destroyed," the LNA said on
its Facebook account.
A nearby office occupied by a joint-venture between NOC and
Italy's Eni SpA was also evacuated, one official said.
The ships' forced departure is a blow to the government, which
relies on imports for large parts of its power generation, bottled
gas and motor fuel.
Libya's warring sides resumed U.N.-brokered talks Tuesday, aimed
at salvaging a cease-fire in the North African country, the U.N.
said.
Both Libyan factions have repeatedly violated the cease-fire,
brokered by Russia and Turkey on Jan. 12. Tensions escalated
mid-January with Gen. Haftar's blockade of oil ports. Since then,
crude production in Libya has fallen to 163,000 barrels a day, down
from 1.2 million barrels a day. The resulting losses are estimated
at $1.4 billion, NOC said last week.
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 18, 2020 09:43 ET (14:43 GMT)
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