Spain’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement on Tuesday, June 30, to end oil production blockade in Libya. The official statement said that the Spanish government expresses its grave concern over the deterioration of the economic situation in Libya and urgently call for an end to the blockade on oil production, a resource that belongs to all of the Libyan people.
Currently, ongoing international talks are suggesting to end the blockade of the country’s oilfield by forces loyal to the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. Spain also opined that Libya’s National Oil Company should be operating under the Government of National Accord as it is necessary to guarantee the correct operation of the oil installations and the management unit.
The closure of Libya's oil wells and the current blockades have added losses up to nearly $6 billion over the last five months, the country's National Oil Corporation (NOC) statement said.
Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa with 48.4 billion barrels, and the revenues from oil and natural gas shared a massive 90% of the country’s revenues. Haftar’s militias have been targeting oil field since 2014, and as the country has been pummeled by civil war since the overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The new government was founded in 2015 with the help of UN-led agreement, but long-term political settlement was failed due to the military invasion by Haftar’s militia. UN acknowledges the Libyan government by Fayez al-Sarraj, as the country's legitimate authority, supported by Turkey. But the country such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France and Russia have been supporting Haftar and his forces called Libyan National Army.
The Libyan government launched Operation Peace Storm to counter attacks on Tripoli in March. The operation was known to be a major blow to Haftar’s forces, as they’re lost strategic locations such as Al-Watiya airbase and Tarhuna city.
