By John Lee.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced force majeure on crude oil loadings from Ras Lanuf and Es Sider port terminals from Thursday 14 June 2018.
The NOC confirms that an armed militia led by Ibrahim Jadhran attacked both terminals, resulting in their closure. NOC evacuated all NOC employees as a precautionary measure.
Mustafa Sanalla, Chairman of NOC, commented:
"The safety and security of our workers is our utmost priority. All other matters are secondary. We continue to monitor the situation on the ground. We will work with local and governmental partners to restore order and full production capacity as soon as possible.
“Individuals or political groups who attempt to capture Libya’s and NOC oil installations, blockade production, or attempt to make NOC a bargaining chip must be brought to justice. These are not patriotic acts, they are war crimes and should receive total condemnation from all Libyans and the international community.”
He added that NOC will pursue by all possible legal means those who threaten its workers, disrupt production and attempt to illegally secure production and shipment facilities. NOC estimates that blockades led by Jadhran have cost the Libyan state tens of billions of dollars.
(Source: NOC)
