Strikers end blockade of oil terminals in Libya

Oil exports at terminals across eastern Libya that were blocked by protesters since July will resume exporting oil on Dec. 15, the commander of the Petroleum Facilities Guard said on Tuesday. Speaking in a televised interview, commander of Petroleum Facilities Guard and head of eastern Libya's autonomous government Ibrahim Jadhran said officials will resume work at the terminals on the condition that they adopt a system to monitor the quantity of oil and an investigation mechanism. However, in early December, Libyan Chief of General Staff, Major-General Jaddallah Al-Obeidi, demanded the striking protesters end their protest unconditionally. Since July, ports and terminals in the Cyrenaica region, including Brega, Zueitina, Sidra, Ras Lanuf, as well as hydrocarbon plants have been shut down by federalist protesters who accuse the National Oil Company of corruption concerning contract deals made with foreign companies. Meanwhile, the Amazigh, an ethnic minority group in the predominately Arab North African country, also shut down a gas plant in the western city of Nalut that was flagged by Italian oil company ENI. In late October, Tuaregs attacked the Spanish oil company Repsol's oil field in el-Sharara. Both minority groups are demanding fuller representation in the constitution. On Saturday, Libya's Oil Minister Abdelbari al-Arusi said that Libya has lost more than 7 billion U.S. dollars due to strikes at oilfields and ports blocking exports. Arusi said the government was having trouble drafting a 2014 budget due to the drop in production from 1.4 million bpd in July to the current 250,000 bpd.