Libya: Exports from Marsa el-Hariga Still Blocked, Two Cargoes Cancelled

Oil exports from Marsa el-Hariga port located at Tobruk, Libya, continue being blocked by Beyda government in Libya, according to Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC).

The announcement came as a reaction to claims by Abdulssalam el-Badri, the deputy prime minister of the Beyda government, that crude oil loadings are continuing at the port.

“This is incorrect. I can confirm that an instruction given to Agoco by Almabrouk Sultan, a Beyda official, to prevent loading of the vessel Seachance at Hariga remains in force,” said NOC spokesman Mohamed el-Harari.

“The vessel was prevented from loading but it is still waiting there and another 2 cargoes of May export program were canceled so far,” he added.

“This blockade is harming Libya. It costs the country $10 mln a day, $120 million so far.”

The blockade of Marsa el-Hariga port has been in force since April 30, after the Indian-flagged vessel Distya Ameya, which attempted to ship crude oil for Libya’s rival government, was prevented from doing so, following blacklisting from the UN Security Council, forcing it to return the cargo.

Nevertheless, on Thursday the UN removed the India-flagged tanker Distya Ameya from the blacklist, without disclosing the reasons behind the decision which was expected to be in place by July 26th.

Exports from Hariga account for three-quarters of Libya’s total oil production.

According to el-Harari, the blockade will cause serious harm to the country, including technical consequences for the port.

“We have reduced oil production from the oil fields in the south east that supply Hariga to one-third of previous levels. In less than three weeks we will have to shut production completely because the tanks at Hariga will be full. Oil from some of the fields is high in wax and it will solidify in the pipelines if it does not move. If that happens, some of that production capacity may be lost to us permanently,” he said.

What is more, the financial consequences of the blockade are expected to be high as payments to the Central Bank will dry up, badly affecting the Libyan Dinar and cutting the country’s national income by a half.

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World Maritime News Staff