Libya’s Brega Port May Restart Oil Exports Soon

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Libya’s Marsa al Brega port, which local sources said reopened on Tuesday, may handle oil cargoes in the next few days, a shipping source close to the trade said.

But the worst disruption to Libya’s oil sector since the civil war of 2011 continued, with the largest terminals, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, still blocked by protesters for nearly four weeks.

Brega was almost fully functioning with fertilizer and methanol arriving, the shipping source said, but he had not seen any oil tankers berthing yet.

“We think Brega crude oil exports will restart in about two to three days,” he added. Domestic products movements were on-going from the Hariga and Brega ports.

Further east along Libya’s coast, the ship operator of the Hellas Warrior crude oil tanker, waiting to load at the Marsa al Hariga port, said the situation was constantly changing with conflicting information coming from the port and the National Oil Corp (NOC).

“Dispute not quite resolved, we are not alongside yet to load. But maybe something tomorrow morning,” the ship operator said about the tanker.

The oil ministry said earlier this week that Hariga had re-opened.

For a FACTBOX on the status of Libya’s oil facilities (Reporting by Julia Payne, editing by William Hardy)

(c) 2013 Thomson Reuters

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