Posted on 02/22/2015 5:26:49 PM PST by thackney
Libya’s largest oil field and a key oil port were brought back online Sunday, though attacks by Islamic extremists have continued elsewhere in the war-torn nation.
The resumption of oil flows from the Sarir oil field, which pumps about two-thirds of the country’s remaining output, was a rare piece of good news following renewed fighting in Libya’s civil war and a string of attacks by Islamic State militants.
A pipeline carrying 185,000 barrels a day from Sarir to the Hariga terminal in eastern Libya was blown up about a week ago by unknown militants.
“The pipeline was repaired. Production restarted today” at 9 a.m. Libyan time, a spokesman for the state-owned National Oil Co. told The Wall Street Journal.
No group has claimed responsibility for the sabotage but Libyan oil officials have blamed Islamic State, which has made headway in the North African country after capturing swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Separately, operations restarted at the Zueitina terminal in eastern Libya, Libyan officials said late Sunday. The terminal, which had been shut for about a year for security concerns, was scheduled to soon start loading a tanker carrying 600,000 barrels when the weather allows, they said Sunday.
Islamic State’s emergence in Libya has exacerbated existing unrest in the country, where an internationally recognized government in the east is fighting an Islamist militia called Dawn for control.
In recent weeks, Islamic State has stormed a French-Libyan oil field, attacked a hotel in Tripoli, and beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians. On Friday, the group said it had carried out suicide bombings that killed more than 40 people in the eastern town of Qubbah, in retaliation for Egyptian air raids against its bases.
Attacks continued over the weekend. On Sunday, the group claimed a rocket attack the previous day on the Labraq airport...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Just in the nick of time to help stabilize oil prices....
War Torn Libya - An 0bama Legacy!
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