BENGHAZI, Libya, July 8, 2012 (AFP)
BENGHAZI, Libya, July 8, 2012 (AFP)
Oil facilities in eastern Libya resumed normal operations on Sunday, an industry official said, after a three-day protest over the region not being granted more seats in the country’s election.
“We have started work since this morning at Haruj and Al-Sidra terminals. The work is back to normal,” said Milud Mohammed Ali, acting superintendent of Haruj oil terminal, a day after the nationwide vote.
Asked about oil pumping and loading of cargo, he told AFP: “Everything has returned back to normal since 9:00 this morning.”
Protest leaders had demanded seats in the 200-member General National Congress elected on Saturday to be evenly split along regional lines.
Instead the authorities, citing demographic considerations, have allocated 100 seats to the western region of Tripolitania, 60 to the eastern region of Cyrenaica and 40 to Fezzan in the south.
“We will continue our protests until Saturday night. If the authorities do not reallocate seats, we will consider other measures,” protest leader Ibrahim
al-Jadhran said on Saturday without elaborating.
An oil industry expert at the time downplayed the disruption in the east, predicting it would all blow over after polling.
Jadhran said his Wadi Ahmar group has no ties to a Benghazi-based tribal and political faction, known locally as the federalists, which has similar demands and threatened to boycott the vote.
The move to shut down oil facilities in the east began with armed protesters forcing the closures of Al-Sidra, 35 kilometres (20 miles) west of Ras Lanuf, Haruj, and then heading eastward to Brega.
Tareq al-Tahi, senior superintendent at Al-Sidra, said his terminal had been forced to stop production on Thursday by a group who arrived in armoured vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns.
Oil production is the major source of government revenues in Libya, and has reached 1.55 million barrels per day, nearing pre-war levels, officials say.
