<article><p class="lead">Eastern Libyan forces are likely to allow blockaded oil ports to resume shipments of stored supplies, but the restart of fresh oil production remains under question. </p><p>Blockaded ports can now reopen, according to the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) eastern branch head Naji al-Maghrabi. Oil ports in Libya's resource-rich ‘oil crescent' region have been largely shut down since January at the instruction of the PFG that used to secure them.</p><p>Libya's west-based fields have also been occupied, and halted by tribal factions and militia forces, leaving only offshore crude fields Bouri and Al Jurf in operation, alongside the Wafa condensate stream and 30,000 b/d of output from the Mesla field, which resumed in late June.</p><p>The permission to resume shipments only applies to volumes already stored at the ports, particularly fuel and condensate, two Libyan sources said. This will reduce the safety risks of extended storage in Libya's war-ravaged ports and will alleviate a deepening national power crisis, according to one of the sources.</p><p>Libya's state-owned NOC had on 7 August flagged that a build-up of condensate and the inability to store further supplies would leave the company with no choice but to interrupt the production of associated gas used for power generation, leading to severe outages.</p><p>The company had also said at the time that the militarisation of oil facilities and the presence of foreign mercenaries — which have in the past included Russian paramilitary group Wagner and Sudanese Janjaweed militia — were enhancing safety risks for stored terminal supplies. It could have consequences that surpass the recent explosion at Lebanon's Beirut port, NOC said.</p><p>NOC has yet to comment on the prospective reopening of eastern ports or the removal of force majeure (FM) restrictions on shipments. One Libyan source said it was not clear if the company would agree to the proposal, or if it would only accept an unconditional reopening of its ports.</p><p>It is also not clear whether fresh field production would be allowed to resume in any capacity, or if the ports would only reopen temporarily. The restart would likely only affect the ports of Es Sider, Marsa el-Hariga, Marsa el-Brega, Zueitina and Ras Lanuf. </p><p>These ports and production in western Libya were briefly allowed to resume operations over a handful of days in early July, when blockades were briefly lifted in the wake of international mediation, then reinstated by the LNA. Led by Khalifa Haftar, the latter group has been leveraging the financial impact of suspended oil sales and missed revenue in its 15-month campaign to gain nationwide control from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). </p><p>At the time, the LNA urged the Tripoli-based Libyan Central Bank (CBL) to publicise its accounts and show evidence that it is not using oil payments to sponsor foreign mercenaries against Haftar's forces — a condition it previously named in past negotiations. The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced on 27 July that auditing firm Deloitte will <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2126874">begin a financial review</a> of both the Tripoli-based CBL and its mirrored institution in eastern Bayda. </p><p class="bylines">By Ruxandra Iordache and Riyan Zerrouki</p></article>
