LONDON--Outages tied to unrest in the oil industry have cost
Libya 22 billion dinars ($17.8 billion) since July, a top oil
official said Thursday.
The staggering amount is roughly equivalent to the economy of
medium-sized countries such as Iceland.
Since July, rebels seeking more regional autonomy have kept the
majority of oil exports shut in Eastern Libya, despite an agreement
with the central government. Protesters have also kept much of the
output from western part of the country closed.
Speaking at a Libyan oil and gas forum in London, U.K., Mohamed
El-Harari, a spokesman for the country's National Oil Co., said oil
production currently stood at 155,000 barrels a day, about 10% of
the country's normal production.
That level was down from 250,000 barrels a day a month ago, he
said. The decline follows the shutdown this week of the al-Hariga
terminal in Eastern Libya.
But Mr. El-Harari said a dispute with oil guards that closed the
ports appeared to be resolved.
"This week, it will start exports again" from al-Hariga, he
said.
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
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