Confusion surrounds the announcement that oil export, which has been suspended, will resume in Eastern Libya 15 Dec.
President of the political office in the region of Cyrénaïque, Ibrahim al-Jadrane, who made the announcement, laid down the conditions under which the export will resume, including the setting up of a mechanism to determine the quantity of exported oil and a probe of past oil sales.
However, Cheikh Salah al-Athyouch, chief of the “al-Lagharabia” tribe that is dominant in the area, said oil export will resume on the scheduled date without preconditions.
Mr. al-Jadrane, who heads the guards in charge of securing the oil terminals in the area of al-Hilal in central Libya, announced in August the creation of the political office in the region of Cyrenaïque, after declaring the autonomy of that part of the country and blocking oil export from the terminals.
Libyan Oil Minister Abdel Bari al-Razon Aroussi has recently said Libya had lost several contracts in the oil sector and nearly US$9 billion in oil revenues since the outbreak of the crisis.
