Libyan authorities have arrested three suspects accused of breaking into the headquarters of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the Attorney General’s Office said shortly after the eastern government warned it could declare force majeure on oilfields and oil export terminals.
Representatives of a militia broke earlier this week into the NOC headquarters in Tripoli, and demanded that they be given jobs protecting the building.
In response to the incident, the Benghazi-based eastern government of Libya said it might declare force majeure on oil export terminals and oilfields due to “repeated assaults on the National Oil Corporation (NOC).”
Although the Libyan government in the east is not internationally recognized, many of Libya’s oilfields are in the east and under the control of eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
The eastern government has said that it could temporarily relocate NOC’s headquarters to one of the “safe” cities such as Ras Lanuf and Brega, both controlled by the government in the east, according to a statement carried by Reuters.
NOC has denied reports that the headquarters had been stormed, saying they were “completely false.”
Earlier this month, clashes erupted in Tripoli, forcing shipping companies to divert vessels away from the capital’s port and raising concerns over the security of the country’s vital energy exports.
NOC said in the middle of May that “technical and operational processes at all oil fields and ports are proceeding normally and safely.”
Over the past few months, major international oil companies have announced their return to Libya following years of stepping aside as the civil war was raging and damaging oilfield and oil pipeline infrastructure due to the infighting between supporters of the governments of the east and west.
BP and Eni, for example, returned to Libya last year after a decade of avoiding the country amid its civil war. After a 10-year hiatus, U.S. oilfield services provider Weatherford also returns to work in Libya.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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