Fires being contained in oil tanks at Libya's largest export port

There have been fires at Es Sider the main oil export terminal for a week now. The fires have reportedly destroyed four days of Libya's oil production.

Conflict continues between forces of the internationally-recognized Tobruk government under prime minister Al-Thinni with the militias loyal to the Tripoli government whose prime minister is Omar al-Hassi. A fire was started when a rocket hit a storage tank at Es Sider last week during an attempt by the Tripoli forces to take the port. Each side blames the other for the rocket strike. Seven tanks are damaged and up to 1.8 million barrels of oil have been destroyed. The conflict has shut down the two ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanauf, the two largest export ports in Libya. Oil output in Libya has declined to around 380,000 barrels a day, about one fifth production levels before Gadaffi was overthrown. 

Last Monday, Business Insider reported production at the far eastern port of Hariga at just 128,000 barrels a day as the two main ports remained closed. The price of Brent crude rose briefly but there remains an oversupply putting more downward pressure on prices. The Central Bank has tried to stay out of the conflict between rival governments but neither of the two rival parliaments has agreed on a new budget. Of the seven oil tanks that were ablaze at one time, only two remain burning according to Mohamed El Harari of the NOC the state oil corporation. The Tobruk government contracted with a US company to help fight the fires. Government spokesperson Mohamed Bazaza said that the value of the contract was $6 million. The name of the company was not given. More recently Ali al-Hassi, a military spokesperson for the Tobruk government forces at Es Sider, said the US firefighters might not be needed any more. Two tanks have completely collapsed and cost to rebuild the tanks runs at around $105 million. The Es Sider terminal is run by Marathon, Hess, and ConocoPhilips in a partnership with a Libyan state-owned firm.

 UN-sponsored peace talks are scheduled for January 6 somewhere outside of LIbya. However, continued violence between government and anti-government forces may make any meaningful dialogue unlikely. The UN has recently condemned a terrorist attack on the hotel in Tobruk where the internationally-recognized Al-Thinni government meets. A suicide bomber detonated a car outside the hotel wounding at least 11. A United Nations Support Mission(UNSMIL) in Libya statement said: “This despicable act will only increase the determination of those Libyans seeking a political solution to forge ahead with their efforts to bring stability and security to Libya.”

 Al-Thinni was the prime minister of the Libyan government when CIA-linked General Khalifa Haftar's allies burned and sacked the Libyan parliament as part of his Operation Dignity. Then Al-Thinni condemned those attacks and there was an arrest warrant out for Haftar but now Haftar heads Al-Thinni's own armed forces. The Libyan Supreme Court on November 6 ruled that the June elections in Libya were unconstitutional and that the Tobruk House of Representatives should be dissolved. The Tobruk government rejected the ruling and the international community and most of the international press have ignored the decision.

Oil tanks set on fire during clashes between Libya government and anti-government forces

According to Mohamed Elharari, a spokesperson for the National Oil Co., five oil tanks are now on fire at Es Sider port, the largest oil terminal in Libya.

Libya's Ministry of Oil and Gas said on its website: “It is a disaster threatening the lives of thousands of people. The fire smoke covers the city’s residential area in Ras Lanuf.” Elharari noted that the wind was strong enough that the fires could spread. The total capacity of the tanks at the site is 6.2 million barrels, four times Libya's total daily production. International help is being sought to help put out the fires. Elharari said that 850,000 barrels of oil were lost because of the fires in five storage tanks on Saturday. On Sunday an oil official reported that seven of the 19 tanks at Es Sider were on fire. Fajr Libya has been attempting to take Es Sider (or Al-Sidra) and the nearby Ras Lanuf facility since last Thursday when a speedboat attack killed at least 22 soldiers loyal to the Tobruk government. Another attack was launched on Sunday by the Fajr Libya who are from the city of Misrata, the third largest in Libya and home of powerful anti-government militias.

 In retaliation for the raids, the Tobruk government launched air strikes against the city of Misrata. The government, and earlier CIA-linked General Haftar, launched numerous strikes on Tripoli to little effect, with anti-government militias still firmly in control of the city. Residents claim that strikes hit an aviation school near the Misrata airport, the port, and also a steel plant. Mohamed El Hejazi a spokesperson for forces loyal to the Tobruk government said that aircraft had attacked the port, an air force academy near the airport and Libya's largest steel plant.However, Ismail Shukri a spokesperson for forces allied to Libya Dawn said the strikes caused no damage. Al Jazeera has an interesting interview with Salah Badi, the leader of the Fajr Libya militia. He notes that there are radical Islamist militias in Libya that are a danger:There are some pockets of fundamentalists in Fajr Libya's orbit. But the majority are the moderate ones. For instance the Shura Council of Benghazi revolutionaries is split into two groups: one group supports the establishment of a national state while the other backs an Islamic order of things. The first group, however, represents the majority. They do not adhere to any Islamic ideology, they drink alcohol and smoke as all the revolutionaries in western Libya do. Only the town of Derna in Libya has notable presence of Islamists, although this is the result of Gaddafi's violent crackdown on the Islamists.

 General Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity back in May, attacking Islamist bases in Benghazi and sacking and burning parliament while announcing it was replaced. The parliament continued to meet and his attempt to replace the government was called a coup. At the time, the prime minister Abdullah al-Thinni, who is now prime minister of the Tobruk government, denounced the operation calling it illegal and and an attempted coup. A warrant was issued earlier for Haftar's arrest. Now Haftar heads up Al-Thinni's armed forces and has been given the green light to retake Benghazi and Tripoli. On November 6th the Libyan Supreme Court declared the June elections were unconstitutional and that the Tobruk government should be dissolved. The Tobruk government rejected the ruling and the international community seemed not to pay any attention and continues to support the Al-Thinni government. Haftar did retake part of Benghazi but recently has been losing ground again there, and has achieved nothing by bombing Tripoli. Anti-government forces are now threatening the main Libyan oil ports in the east.

The UN has condemned the attacks on the oil facilities. Earlier they had asked Tobruk government to stop the bombings. The government paid no attention. No one punishes this government for bombing its own people because it has the support of powerful countries such as Egypt since it is fighting Islamist "terrorists" according to their narrative. The latest lecture by the UN on Libyan violence does not mention the continued bombing attacks by Tobruk. New UN-sponsored peace talks are scheduled for January 5th somewhere outside of Libya.

Libya clashes threaten operation of eastern oil ports

One Libyan oil export port is no longer functioning because of clashes between government forces and anti-government militia who are launching attacks nearby.

An official told Reuters that Ras Lanuf a large port east of Es Sider was still exporting oil but the al-Waha Oil Company that operates Es Sider had stopped work. Armed groups from Fajr Libya a coalition of militia opposed to the government had launched attacks on al-Hilal an important oil region but Brigadier-General Saqr Jarushi said they had been repelled by the air force:"Air force jets and helicopters struck the fighters as they advanced on Al-Sidra oil terminal," he said, adding that the air raids had caused "a large number of casualties". Libyan officials said. An aide to the Omar al-Hassi, the prime minister of the Tripoli government, said that the attack on Es Sider was part of a much larger offensive called "Sunrise".

The Tripoli government appears to be reacting to the Hafter offensive with its own counter offensive. The Es Sider terminal is held by the eastern separatist Ibrahim Jedran, who is loyal to the Tobruk government. Fajr Libya had earlier announced it had started an operation to "liberate oilfields and terminals". The group reported that two of its fighters had been killed and several wounded. The Al-Hilal region contains the Ras Lanuf and Brega terminals as well as Es Sider.

 Although the UN has demanded that fighting stop and a dialogue begin, the Tobruk UN-recognized government supports the CIA-linked general Khalifa Haftar who is now head of the Libyan armed forces and has given him the green light to liberate Benghazi and Tripoli. So far he has managed only to liberate part of Benghazi at considerable cost and may now face a united front of radical militias from Derna, where some groups have pledged allegiance to IS. The new Shura Council said: "Everybody saw what happened in Benghazi: disaster; institutions destroyed; houses demolished; mosques and universities burned by the criminal hands of Haftar's supporters." Certainly not everyone in the west saw this because it is reported only as a positive development that Haftar has retaken part of Benghazi.

 Egypt has been supporting the efforts of Khalifa Haftar. Some believe that Egyptian planes have been involved in the bombing of Benghazi by Haftar's forces and that Egypt provided support for planes from the UAE that bombed Tripoli earlier. There have been recent bombings of Tripoli as well including the one airport left functioning.

 The EU has recently banned all seven Libyan airlines from flying within the airspace of the group of 28 countries We can expect western countries and their Arab allies to continue to ignore the ruling on Nov. 6 of the Libyan Supreme Court that said the June elections were unconstitutional and the Tobruk House of Representatives should be dissolved. The international community will continue to recognize the Tobruk government even though it now has as head of the military CIA-linked Khalifa Haftar who was formerly called a "renegade general".

 Egypt is now taking diplomatic action which it hopes will eventually lead to foreign intervention as part of the "war on terror". No doubt we will hear more and more about radical Islamists in Libya and the threat they pose to the west in preparation for international action. Here is what Al-Monitor reports on the Egyptian diplomatic push: On the diplomatic front, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has held several meetings since the launch of the initiative to stabilize Libya and the formation of the Libyan neighbors group. The aim is to urge international action on Libya, with Egyptian diplomacy framing Cairo's policy as part of the global war on terror.