Page 8 - DMEA Week 08 2020

DMEA POLICY DMEA
Head of Libya’s NOC says US intervention could mitigate harm to oil sector
LIBYA
The head of Libya’s NOC says US intervention could mitigate damage to the oil industry.
THE head of Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) said last week that he hoped the US government would intervene to help end the conflict between rival factions fighting for control of Tripoli.
The capital serves as the home base of the country’s Government of National Accord (GNA), but it has been under attack by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA). The latter group dom- inates most of Libya’s eastern and southern regions and has been working since January to gain power over the northern port cities. It has succeeded in blocking the flow of oil and gas to processing plants and terminals in the ports and in preventing tankers from loading up with hydrocarbons for export.
During a meeting with Richard Norland, the US ambassador to Tunisia, NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla said that Libya had been in a dire situation ever since the LNA had staged an attack on port facilities in Tripoli. The crisis is crippling the oil sector, which accounts for most of Libya’s national income, he noted.
“The events of the last few days and weeks mean that the Libyan economy is sliding into a crisis and more Libyans are suffering ... US Ambassador Norland and I agreed that the oil and gas sector must be allowed to operate for the
benefit of all Libyans, as it represents the only income for [the] state. That means ending the blockade, which is doing severe damage to the economy of [the] country,” he said.
Sanalla went on to say that he hoped the US would play an active role in efforts to negotiate a peace deal. “I am hopeful that the US will con- tinue their efforts to broker peace so that Libya’s economy can slowly rebuild and work towards prosperity for all Libyan people,” he said. “We urgently need US leadership to help end the oil embargo, not just to avoid a financial crisis, but to prevent major damage to national infra- structure. Every day that passes with oil sitting in pipelines increases the damage to our infra- structure, increases the pollution risks from leaks and reduces our ability to quickly resume oil production.”
He was speaking shortly before his company reported that its production had dropped again. On February 20, NOC said it was extracting just 122,424 barrels per day of crude oil. This repre- sents a significant drop from the 900,000 bpd- plus figures reported prior to January 18, when Haftar’s LNA cut off NOC’s access to coastal terminals and associated infrastructure. It is also more than 1mn bpd below Libya’s 2019 peak of 1.2-1.3mn bpd. ™
Saudi forces foil Houthi attack on oil sites
SAUDI ARABIA
Yemeni rebels claim the attack was successful, however.
YEMEN’S Houthi rebels claim to have launched another strike on oil facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Some 12 drones and three rockets “targeted Aramco and other sensitive targets in Yanbu and hit them with high precision,” a Houthi military spokesman said in a statement on the Houthis’ al-Masirah television channel on Feb- ruary 21.
The Houthis, backed by Iran, are at war with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition which has launched a military campaign against the rebels.
Aramco has not commented on the attack. But a spokesman for the Saudi alliance said that hours prior to the Houthi announcement, air defences had intercepted ballistic missiles fired by the rebels towards Saudi cities.
“They were launched in a systematic, deliber- ate manner to target cities and civilians, which is a flagrant defiance of international humanitarian law,” the spokesman said in a statement to Saudi
state news agency SPA. “The capital (Sanaa) has become a Houthi militia assembly, installation and launching hub for ballistic missiles that tar- get the kingdom.”
The coalition then told SPA on February 23 that its naval forces had destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives that had been dis- patched from Yemen’s Hodeidah Province. It did not disclose the boat’s targets.
The Houthi attack comes four months after a squad of drones carried out co-ordinated attacks on two major Saudi oil sites, temporar- ily knocking out more than half of the country’s oil production capacity and causing oil prices to spike. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Hou- this – a charge that Tehran denies. Iran said it had no involvement in the latest attack.
Brent crude was down 1.4% on February 21 at $58.46 per barrel amid renewed concerns about the environmental impact of the coronavirus outbreak, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.9% to $53.38. ™
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 08 28•February•2020