BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Libya’s eastern-based government said on Thursday that oilfields and facilities would reopen after a dispute over the leadership of the central bank was resolved, potentially ending a crisis that has slashed oil output, two government sources and local media said.
Libya has been divided since 2014 into rival authorities in the west and east that emerged from the chaos following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
The government in Benghazi in the east said oil production and exports would resume normal operations, according to the sources and media, after the rival authorities agreed last month to appoint a new central bank governor, Naji Issa.
The government in the second-largest city had closed oilfields and halted most of crude exports on Aug. 26 in protest against a move by the Presidential Council, which sits in Tripoli in the west, to replace veteran central bank chief Sadiq al-Kabir.
The head of the Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, met with Issa on Wednesday and stressed “the need for the central bank governor to commit to the technical role of the bank, stay away from politics, and not surpass the legal jurisdictions of the board of directors.”
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Aug. 28 that oil production had dropped by more than half from its typical levels due to the closures.
The North African country’s crude exports averaged about 460,000 barrels per day in September, data from oil analytics firm Kpler show, down from more than 1 million bpd in August, shipping data show.
(Reporting by Ayman Werfalli and Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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