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Libya's oil's production crippled by the blockade of two ports

The Libyan oil production has been reduced to 315,000 bbl/d after ships have been barred from loading the fuel at the ports of Hariga and Zueitina. The ports were recaptured by eastern-based factions and operations were halted, suspending all crude oil exports from the two ports.



The domestic production reached 1 mb/d over the past months but started to drop in June 2018 after an attack at the ports of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, forcing them to shut down and thus slashing oil output by 450,000 bbl/d. The Libyan government and the National Oil Corporation have also declared force majeure on exports supplied through Zueitina and Hariga, which brings the total production losses to approximately 850,000 bbl/d.



Over the 2016-2017 period, Libya was rapidly ramping up its oil production and increased its yearly output from 200,000 bbl/d in 2016 up to approximately 1 mb/d at the end of 2017. In any case, this production level remains much lower than the 1.6 mb/d produced before 2011.