An official source in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said, in an exclusive statement to 218News, that the protesters at As Sidr port on Saturday allowed the entry of the Estrella tanker to ship 600,000 barrels of oil to Italy, provided that the port would be closed again after the tanker was evacuated.
The source added, in his interview with 218News, that the exception of the tanker “Estrella” came after negotiations between the NOC and the supplier of the shipment to avoid any financial or legal obligations, as the NOC did not announce a state of force majeure on the largest export ports in Libya, which protesters closed last Thursday, demanding better management of revenues from the unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba.
The oil sector has been suffering from a wave of repeated closures since mid-April, carried out by protesters in a number of ports and oil fields, which caused a decline in general production from 1,250 million to 800.000 barrels per day. Libya relies on oil revenues for 95% of its annual budget financing.
