Exports have resumed from a number of ports in Libya, with local protestors agreeing to end their occupation.
National Oil Corp. (NOC) announced crude exports had resumed at Hariga on September 15. It said Sidra and Ras Lanuf reopened today.
The company said chairman Mustafa Sanalla had held talks with the youths who carried out the occupation. Protestors were calling for more employment opportunities.
NOC acknowledged the demands, while disagreeing with how the demands had played out. The company said it was keen to provide jobs for those in the area and throughout the country.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas also reported that Hariga had reopened. The ministry said it had held talks with the protestors.
Minister Mohamed Oun has clashed with NOC head Sanalla in the past. That both NOC and the ministry have claimed success independently suggests there is little let up in the hostilities, despite the mediation of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
Exports were disrupted earlier this month, resuming on September 10. NOC’s earlier statement said demonstrators had misled the young protestors.
“It is clear that, for some, loyalty and devotion to the homeland are just words they repeat, but it hurts and angers me this time to see a Libyan official planning and another participating in shutting down the ports for narrow purposes and agendas that do not serve the Libyan national interest,” Sanalla said.
He did not name those accused. However, he did say that those behind the protests should be held accountable.
Areas in which NOC operates “need special care and attention from the state”, Sanalla said.