AFRICANGLOBE – Labour strike action at Libya’s main oil facilities could trigger the country’s first disaster since the uprising which deposed ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi two years ago.
On Monday security guards had re-started a strike action they abandoned at the weekend. As a result, Libya’s two main “crude oil export terminals” have been closed hours after marksmen injured a security guard on Sunday evening.
Libyan officials said the violent outbreak was connected to rivalry among militia gangs over oilfield contracts.
Work at the oil stations had been re-started late on Sunday at the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf after a two-week shutdown, according to reports.
Last week, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan cautioned of the economic costs of the off-and-on disturbances to oilfield, production and exports.
He said oil distributions to foreign lands had plummeted by 70 percent in a shocking financial hindrance for Libya.
It was reported that the government was trying to quell the attacks on the oilfields by meeting and talking to the fighting groups and protesters
But this had been rejected by other groups, closing certain ports and forcing oil production to less than 30 percent of normal levels.
By: Mzwandile Jacks
