Page 14 - DMEA Week 18 2022

DMEA TERMINALS & SHIPPING DMEA

NOC temporarily resumes work at

Zueitina following force majeure

AFRICA LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) reported on shutdown, but is greatly concerned about its abil-
Sunday (May 1) that it had been able to recom- ity to maintain the integrity of its storage tanks
mence work at the Zueitina export terminal fol- and infrastructure under the circumstances.
lowing a declaration of force majeure, at least on Late last week, it expressed great concern about
a temporary basis. the possibility of environmental damage from
In a statement, NOC said that the terminal leaks and said its tank farm needed urgent tech-
had been able to resume normal operations and nical repair and maintenance work to prevent
continue working long enough to transfer dis- damage.
placed volumes of oil into storage and load crude It also called on the country’s rival political
onto two tankers. It attributed these successes to leaders to resolve their disputes as soon as possi-
“the efforts of the loyal people of this country and ble in order to facilitate the resumption of crude
... regular and continuous communication with oil exports from Zueitina and the rehabilitation
the all parties.” of the terminal’s facilities.
The state-owned company was working to Libya’s main oilfields and export terminals
address the problems it was facing as a result of have witnessed repeated closures as a result of
the abrupt shutdown of the Zueitina export ter- protests, political power struggles and other dis-
minal last week. ruptions. Production has been suspended mul-
That event left NOC with no way to ensure tiple times as workers’ wages have not been paid
proper handling of Abu-Attefl crude, a waxy on time.
grade from the Abu-Attefl and Rimal oilfields Oil Minister Mohamed Oun said late last
that must be stored and transported in special month that the closure of the country’s main oil-
heated networks so that it does not wax over and fields and ports was causing the country to lose
block or overload pipes. more than $60mn per day. NOC declared force
NOC has been attempting to store the vol- majeure in April after protests led to the closure
umes of Abu-Attefl that built up in the pipeline of multiple sites – including Sharara, the coun-
leading to the Zueitina terminal following the try’s biggest oilfield, located in western Libya.™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 05•May•2022