Libya's Economic Losses From Port Blockades Surpass $930 Million -National Oil Corporation

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2020) Economic losses resulting from the blockades of Libyan ports used by the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) have surpassed $930 million, the NOC reports.

In January, the NOC announced an emergency due to its inability to ship oil from Libyan ports. According to the NOC, the shipping was stopped per the order of the Libyan National Army's (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar.

"National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirms a drop in production to the current level of 187,337 b/d, with losses resulting from the illegal blockades amounting to 931,775,672 USD," the NOC said on Twitter on Tuesday.

According to the oil company, there is now sufficient fuel in central and eastern Libya, after a gasoline tanker unloaded its cargo in Benghazi port.

"Storage facilities in Tripoli and some surrounding areas, as well as in Southern regions, are facing some supply shortages due to the security situation," the NOC said, renewing its call "for all blockades to be lifted to allow the corporation to resume production immediately, for the sake of Libya and its people.

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The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya has stopped paying salaries to guards at oil facilities in the country's east and south, a source familiar with the matter told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Tensions between Libya's rival power structures, the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) escalated last year, when the LNA launched an operation to retake the GNA-held capital of Tripoli.

In January of this year, Berlin hosted an international conference on Libyan reconciliation, attended by over a dozen states and entities, including Russia and the United States. The conference resulted in a joint communique in which the signatories pledged to refrain from aiding either of the warring parties in Libya and observe the arms embargo.