By John Lee.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that rival forces had agreed to let a tanker, the New Hellas, load oil at Zueitina port.
The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) signed a deal to end its blockade of Zueitina and two other ports, but according to Reuters eastern forces loyal to a separate government have threatened to block a resumption of exports.
NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said in a statement:
"NOC can confirm, that after considerable efforts, we have received the consent from all relevant parties to permit the Greek flag vessel "NEW HELLAS" to enter Zueitina Terminal in order that it will transfer a shipment to Zawia Refinery.
"This is in response to NOC's most recent statement (7 August 2016) in which we made the request to all parties for the provision of a vessels' safe passage to enable the discharge of the Zueitina Terminal storage tanks and to transfer the crude oil to a safe place.
"This request was made strictly in a spirit of responsibility from all parties and for the sake of public interest. On this occasion, NOC would like to thank all those who contributed to this work.
"I want to express my appreciation to all sides for heeding our request. It was the right thing to do and I think shows that when the opportunity arises, we Libyans can do the right thing. Instead of all being harmed, all will benefit "
"The Zueitina storage tanks contain about 3,080,000 barrels of crude oil and 180,000 barrels of [condensate].
"New Hellas will transport about 620'000 barrels in each voyage from Zueiteina terminal to Zawia Refinery and NOC will charter more ships to speed up the process of emergency discharge of Zueiteina terminal tanks in order to finish it ASAP and with full coordination and co-operation with all the parties.
"Furthermore, the NOC urges all parties to exercise self-restraint, to stay away from the oil facilities and installations, to refrain from exposing the assets of the Libyan people to destruction; and to avoid the huge damages that may result from such military confrontations."
(Sources: NOC, Reuters)
