NOC says Thinni government blocking $10-million oil exports a day from Hariga

By Ajnadin Mustafa.

Tripoli, 12 May 2016:

The National Oil Corporation in Tripoli has accused the Beida-based government of Abdullah Al-Thinni of blocking . . .[restrict]ten million dollars-worth of oil a day being exported from the Hariga terminal in Tobruk.

NOC spokesman Mohamed Al-Harari said that the Maltese-flagged tanker SeaChance which had been prevented from loading at Hariga early last week was stopped on the express orders of the Thinni government.

It was still at Hariga earlier today.

“I can confirm that the instructions went from Al-Mabrouk Sultan, one of the oil officials with the interim government in Beida, to the Arabian Gulf Oil Company to prevent the SeaChance being loaded,” Harari said. He added that two other upliftings at Hariga organised by the Tripoli NOC had also been blocked. He further pointed out that exports through Hariga accounted for three-quarters of current international sales.

This blockage would reduce oil income and in turn would, he claimed, “increase the shortage of fuel and food and medicines and would affect electricity production”. He also predicted that the dinar would probably drop further against the dollar. [/restrict]