A rogue tanker laden with 650,000 bl of Libyan crude has been returned to its country of origin and requested to unload at the Zawiya refinery.
The Distya Ameya, which loaded the cargo last week at Marsa el-Hariga, was subsequently added to a UN Security Council sanctions list, prompting its return, said the chairman of state-owned oil firm NOC Mustafa Sanalla.
"This incident is a clear warning to all shipowners and trading companies that oil exports from Libya by any other entity than the National Oil Corporation of Libya are illegal and will be stopped," Sanalla said. He criticised the "parallel administration" in the eastern city of Beyda for selling the oil and risking dividing the country.
Libya's fledgling Government of National Accord has been attempting to assert its authority in the country after being forged from rival governments in December. NOC is hoping that stability will allow it to revive Libya's crude output, the lifeline of the country's battered economy.
"In the last three years, we have lost close to $75bn up to April 2016 due to blockades at our oil ports and oil pipelines by militias."
Libyan oil production remains at a fraction of pre-2011 levels, falling to 340,000 b/d in March from nearly 1.6mn in October 2010. About 1mn b/d of output has been shut down for "political reasons," Sanalla said, but said production can be doubled in a matter of months if blockades are lifted.
