Libyan Authorities Evacuate Tankers From Tripoli After Apparent Strike at Port -- Update

By Benoit Faucon

Libyan authorities ordered the immediate departure of tankers from Tripoli's port after a rebel faction claimed responsibility for an attack at the facility, oil officials said Tuesday.

The stoppage threatens a key lifeline for the country's embattled government. Tripoli, the seat of power for Libya's central government, has been under attack since last year from forces led by renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar. The general's army recently blocked most of the country's oil production and transport--the source of virtually all its revenue--in retaliation for a Turkish intervention on the government's side.

One liquefied-petroleum-gas carrier and three gasoline vessels "were instructed to leave Tripoli port immediately," said an official with Libya's National Oil Co., the state-run company that controls oil production and fuel supplies in the country.

Containers at a dock nearby were hit by an apparent strike, another official said. Videos and pictures posted by local television channel FebruaryTV and security website Conflict News showed the onshore facilities were on fire.

Gen. Haftar's Libyan National Army claimed it had carried out an attack on a Turkish arms cargo.

"The Turkish ship loaded with weapons and ammunition that landed this morning in the port of Tripoli was destroyed," the LNA said on its Facebook account.

A nearby office occupied by a joint-venture between NOC and Italy's Eni SpA was also evacuated, one official said.

The ships' forced departure is a blow to the government, which relies on imports for large parts of its power generation, bottled gas and motor fuel.

Libya's warring sides resumed U.N.-brokered talks Tuesday, aimed at salvaging a cease-fire in the North African country, the U.N. said.

Both Libyan factions have repeatedly violated the cease-fire, brokered by Russia and Turkey on Jan. 12. Tensions escalated mid-January with Gen. Haftar's blockade of oil ports. Since then, crude production in Libya has fallen to 163,000 barrels a day, down from 1.2 million barrels a day. The resulting losses are estimated at $1.4 billion, NOC said last week.

Write to Benoit Faucon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2020 09:43 ET (14:43 GMT)

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