Opposition says resuming exports of Libya's oil

BENGHAZI: Libya's opposition said Monday it was resuming oil exports suspended during anti-regime protests and had loaded a tanker with one million barrels of crude for China.

The tanker was the first cargo of crude to sail from Libya since February 19, after security forces had begun a crackdown on anti-regime protesters who have since taken control of most of the east of the country.

"The ship is leaving for China and is carrying around one million barrels" of crude produced in the country before most oil companies shut down their operations last week, said Fethi Faraj, a local opposition leader in Tobruk.

Faraj, who also works for the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, said the company now in opposition control hoped to ship another 600,000 barrels to China to fulfil a contract in the next few days.

The company had feared that storage capacity at oil terminals had been exhausted because of a halt in exports due to the violence, Faraj said.

"We are no longer in a critical situation as far as stocks are concerned, as has been the case recently. We can store five million barrels, and we are currently storing two million," he said.

Most of the foreign oil companies in Libya, including France's Total and China's CNPC, have suspended production and evacuated their staff because of the violence, in which more than 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China's main oil and gas producer, announced it was stopping production and withdrawing staff because its plants came under attack during protests last week.

OPEC member Libya normally exports around 1.6 million barrels a day, 85 percent of which goes to Europe, according to the International Energy Agency. (AFP)