The tenth month of the war on Tripoli has gone by with all the violations and crimes committed by the aggression militias of Khalifa Haftar, ranging from hundreds of deaths to thousands of injuries and displaced families, let alone depriving students from going to schools and then depriving all Libyans from their only source of income by shutting down oil fields and ports.
Haftar Blockades Libya’s Oil
Haftar instructed his loyalist forces to close oil fields and ports, blockading the oil exports and production operations and causing Libya losses worth millions of dollars day in and day out, despite the fact that he and all Libyans know what happened when the oil ports and fields were closed in 2013.
Force Majeure Declared
On January 18, the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure in Brega, Ras Lanuf, Hariga, Zueitina and Sidra oil ports after the pro-Haftar forces had blockaded oil exports.
The NOC later warned that the closure could lead to the lowest oil production Libya had ever seen since 2011, saying daily financial losses are worth 55 million dollars.
Increasing Losses
To Haftar, the blockade on oil exports was a pressure card he put in his pocket and flew to Berlin so he could negotiate with some strength as he couldn’t achieve anything thing militarily or politically since April attack on Tripoli.
Meanwhile, the state-owned NOC said the total losses from the closure of Libya’s major oil fields and production facilities had accelerated, reaching more than $502 million over a 10-day period until January 27. The NOC added that oil production had fallen from over 1.2 million barrels a day before the seizures to 271,204 barrels on Monday.
What’s Next?
It seems that Haftar and his supporters won’t stop their destructive approach to power in Libya until they are defeated and forced to retreat to their previous positions before April 04, 2019 in order to pave the way for pushing him out of the political and military scene once and for all, according to observers, who added that such an action would allow patriotic and trustworthy officers to command the army in Libya and avoid any more bloodshed among Libyans.
