As attacks increase around oil production sites, control of Libya’s vast oil reserves – the largest in Africa – remains a focal point of tension in the country’s fragile political landscape.
Authorities are even threatening to halt production and exports.
Libya’s eastern-based administration, led by Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi, warned it could halt oil production and exports after an armed attack on the National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, Bloomberg reports.
Libya’s national unity government issued a statement saying “repeated attacks” could prompt “precautionary measures,” including the declaration of force majeure at oil fields and terminals or the relocation of the company’s main offices to a more secure location.
The gunmen who stormed the NOC headquarters on Wednesday reportedly demanded payment for security services.
According to the NOC, the minor clash lasted approximately 30 minutes and did not affect
operations.
This incident comes amid escalating violence in Tripoli between militias close to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and rival factions.
The unrest has prompted calls for Dbeibah’s resignation.
Although the clashes were mainly confined to Tripoli, there are fears that the instability could spread and reignite a wider conflict between Dbeibah’s administration and Haftar’s forces.
The two rival camps were previously engaged in a civil war that ended with a ceasefire agreement in 2020.
Since then, the United Nations has pushed for national elections as a path to peace, but progress has stalled.
MK/ac/Sf/fss/as/APA