A strike by security guards has closed the last functioning oil port in mainland Libya.
The port of Hariga [Marsa al Hariga], in Tobruk, near the Egyptian border, was closed on Saturday morning by striking security guards complaining that salaries had not been paid.
Reuters has reported that a tanker was being prevented from taking on 750,000 barrels of oil.
The port used to export around 120,000 barrels of oil per day, and its closure is expected to reduce oil output to less than 300,000 barrels a day.
But Italian oil company Eni has told the Libya Herald that, with the exception of Abu Attifel, all the Wafa fields are producing with output running at around 260,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The offshore Bahr Essalam field was also in production.
Only Brega port is reported to be still open, but it is used to supply the 120,000 bpd-Zawiya refinery with crude.
All other ports and most oilfields have shut down due to fighting nearby or pipeline blockages by rival factions.
(Sources: Reuters, Libya Herald)
(Strike image via Shutterstock)
