2024-01-13 17:33:59
Just a few days following similar protests halted production at the country’s largest oil field, new protests broke out in Libya once morest corruption and the distribution of oil wealth. They are threatening to shut down two oil and gas facilities within 72 hours.
The two facilities at the Zawiya refinery west of Tripoli pump natural gas from the Mellitah complex, owned by Italy’s Eni and Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC). Stopping the operation here would interrupt the flow of gas through the Libyan-Italian Greenstream gas pipeline, which would also cause serious problems in Italy in the middle of winter.
If the protesters are successful, they will halt the processing of 120,000 barrels of oil a day at the refinery, which is connected to the Sharara oil field, and a state of force majeure has been declared at the facility since Sunday.
However, for now there is hardly any coverage of the incident in Libya, first by Energy Intelligence, and then on Thursday by Archyde.com reported regarding it. According to Archyde.com, the protest was announced via video by the Anti-Corruption Movement. They demand that NOC chairman Farhat Bengdara be removed from his post “law violations reaching the level of a crimebecause of ”. Archyde.com reports.
Down with corrupt leaders
The protesters’ demands also include the imposition of restrictions on Bengdara so that it cannot make any further oil deals for the country. Furthermore, they want to achieve more job opportunities for young people near the oil facilities, as well as the introduction of stricter environmental protection controls.
“If the authorities do not respond to our demands, the movement may turn into civil disobedience.” said a spokesperson for the group in a telephone interview with Archyde.com. A legal case is currently pending challenging the validity of Bengdara’s appointment as president of the oil company.
In a hearing on Monday, the Tripoli Court of Appeal said an urgent decision on the case would be made on January 22, according to Libyan media reports.
The emergency ruling will address whether Bengdara’s powers as chairman of the national oil company should be suspended pending an appeals court ruling on whether he is eligible to serve as chairman of the oil company due to his dual citizenship with the United Arab Emirates. Similarly, dual nationals have been removed from office in Libya in the past.
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