Yesterday, Sunday, the Petroleum Facilities Guard in Libya threatened to close all oil and gas facilities in the western region of the country after the expiry of a 10-day deadline for the authorities to implement their demands, which include increasing their salaries by 67 percent.
The oil sector, Libya’s main source of income, has been the target of local and broader political protests since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
Members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, a military group whose mission is to protect oil installations, published the threat in video clips posted on the Internet yesterday, Sunday.
The footage, published on the “X” and “Facebook” platforms, showed members of the Oil Facilities Guard wearing military uniforms closing a feed valve to the Mellitah oil complex, west of Tripoli.
The authenticity of the footage could not be verified from independent sources.
The Mellitah complex is a joint project between the National Oil Corporation of Libya and the Italian company Eni. Closing the complex will disrupt gas supplies via the Green Stream pipeline between Libya and Italy.
The National Oil Corporation said through its account on the “X” platform that the Chairman of its Board of Directors discussed their demands with the head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard and expressed his “understanding” for those demands, but stressed “the necessity of keeping oil installations away from any tensions.”
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The corporation did not reveal whether there were any closures of oil facilities. The government in Tripoli has not issued a comment yet.
Karim Al-Qammoudi, a member of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, said in a statement that they had closed the gate leading to the Zawiya refinery, located west of Tripoli as well, adding that supplies were proceeding normally, but “slowly due to the crowds at the gate.” He stated, “There are only false promises, and we want them (the authorities) to listen to our demands.”
The production capacity of the Zawiya oil refinery is 120,000 barrels per day, and it is connected to the Sharara oil field, which has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
In January, protesters from the Fezzan region in the south closed the Sharara field, prompting the National Oil Corporation to declare force majeure on the field, which reopened a few days later.
Members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard said in another video statement, “We are sorry and unwilling to close the oil facilities.”
The Petroleum Facilities Guard asked the national unity government led by Abdul Hamid Dabaiba to increase salaries by 67 percent, similar to the increase granted to employees of the National Oil Corporation. He also asked the National Unity Government to annex them administratively and financially to the National Oil Corporation, and technically to the Ministry of Defense.
