Libya port rebels say started exporting oil, bypassing govt

[jakeXT]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Armed protesters controlling ports in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had started exporting oil, bypassing the Tripoli government in a major escalation of their blockade to demand a greater share of the nation's petroleum wealth.

A North Korean-flagged tanker docked earlier at the Es Sider port, which is controlled by protesters who want more regional autonomy, officials at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed.

The oil standoff is one part of deepening turmoil in the North African OPEC producer, where the government is struggling to control militias who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but kept their weapons and are challenging state authority.

Any independent shipment would be a blow to Libya's government. Tripoli had said it would destroy tankers trying to buy oil from Ibrahim Jathran, a former anti-Gaddafi rebel who seized the port and two others with thousands of his men in August.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/uk-libya-oil-idUKBREA2709N20140308

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Another triumph of the US/NATO liberation machine. n/t

[bemildred]

2. Another failed state. nt

[arewenotdemo]

3. The liberators, all of them...

Obama, Clinton, Power, Rice, Sarkozy, Cameron, et al., should fly into the nation and take a nice long vacation there.

See all the sights, not just Tripoli. Head out to eastern Libya and Benghazi.

Celebrate the victory over Gaddafi with the democrats they empowered.

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Wonder who controls that oil terminal..

to the financial pirates. You guys think big. Really BIG.

[MisterP]

5. so once again Cyrenaica's trying to split from a strongman trying to keep the country together

what did it cost last time--200 US missiles? and one rumor about Viagra?

[arewenotdemo]

6. Libya means nothing now to the "humanitarians" like Power that freed it from Gaddafi.

They've done their bit and are now focused like lasers on Ukraine, Syria and Venezuela.

Implementing regime change around the world in the name of freedom and democracy is a 24/7 proposition.

[MisterP]

7. it's our oil, their sand and soil just managed to get on top of it

[daleo]

8. Nobody could have foreseen this, right?

Well, maybe a few of us did.

[Eugene]

9. Libya sends navy to stop North Korean tanker

Source: Reuters

Libya sends navy to stop North Korean tanker

BY ULF LAESSING AND FERAS BOSALUM
TRIPOLI Sun Mar 9, 2014 12:41pm EDT

(Reuters) - Libya's navy and pro-government militias have dispatched boats to a port held by armed protesters to stop a North Korean-flagged tanker from leaving with crude sold without government permission, officials said on Sunday.

The tanker docked on Saturday at the eastern terminal of Es Sider, one of three ports seized by rebels since August to press demands for autonomy and a bigger share of oil revenue. Local daily al-Wasat said the ship had loaded $36 million of crude.

The rebel oil sale illustrates the deepening turmoil in the OPEC producer, which has failed to rein in fighters who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but who now defy state authority.

In Tripoli, workers at a state oil firm that runs Es Sider port went on strike, urging the government to intervene because their colleagues were under duress from armed protesters.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/09/us-libya-oil-idUSBREA2709K20140309

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Libya 'takes control' of North Korea-flagged oil tanker

Libyan officials say they have taken control of a North Korean-flagged tanker that loaded crude oil at a port occupied by rebel forces.

It was stopped as it tried to leave Sidra port and is now being escorted to a government-controlled port, they add.
...
But the BBC's Rana Jawad, in Tripoli, says there is a lot of confusion over the fate of the tanker, with the rebels saying it is still docked at the port in Sidra.
...
Earlier on Monday, the head of the Libyan parliament, Nuri Abu Sahmein, ordered the formation of a force made up of regular soldiers and allied militias to take back the rebel-held ports, which previously handled a total of more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26519285