The US embassy in Tripoli on Saturday stated that the commander of Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, had expressed its personal commitment to lift a months-long blockade of the country’s oil facilities. However, it did not detail whether oil fields and ports would reopen. According to the statement, The full reopening of Libya’s energy industry would take place no later than September 12.
The commitment came after the US efforts to end the blockade amid a wider push to pave a reconciliation between the two opposing parties. The conflict between the Government of National Accord backed by the US, Turkey, and Qatar and the eastern-based LNA supported by Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, has led to the near-complete halt of the country’s crude production.
LNA, which blocked exports from five of the country’s major crude oil export terminals. The blockade resulted in filling storage capacity, which led to the decline of Libya’s crude output from over 1.1 million bpd before the conflict to around 70,000-110,000 bpd in the last several months. LNA previously proposed three conditions in order to lift the blockade. The conditions are auditing central bank’s oil revenue accounts over the last several years, setting a specific bank account for oil revenue, and preventing oil revenue from financing mercenaries and terrorism.
