Maltese-flagged tanker stopped from loading at oil export terminal in Libya
THE Maltese-flagged tanker Thenamaris-managed Aframax 'Seachance' has departed from Marsa el Hariga after being prevented from loading at the oil export terminal in Libya, as a row mounts between Tripoli-based National Oil Corp (NOC) and the rival eastern NOC.
Reuters said that workers at the terminal were instructed not to handle the tanker. She was due to load 600,000 barrels crude sold by Tripoli-based NOC. The cargo purchaser was said to be Glencore, which was believed to have agreed an exclusive deal with NOC to lift oil from Hariga.
The move came in response to last week's UN intervention on the 1995-built, Indian-flagged, Elektrans-managed Aframax Distya Ameya, which was to export 650,000 barrels of crude for NOC's own account.
The fully-loaded tanker was held off Malta for three days before being sent back to Libya to discharge its cargo in Zawia, reported London's Tanker Operator.
According to Reuters, a Tripoli-based oil official warned the country's oil output could fall by 120,000 barrels per day if the Benghazi-based NOC, set up by the eastern government, continues to block tankers loading from Hariga.
The stand-off at Hariga, part of a broader political struggle between factions in eastern and western Libya, threatens to further reduce oil output, which has fallen to less than a quarter of its 2011 high of 1.6 million barrels per day.
THE Maltese-flagged tanker Thenamaris-managed Aframax 'Seachance' has departed from Marsa el Hariga after being prevented from loading at the oil export terminal in Libya, as a row mounts between Tripoli-based National Oil Corp (NOC) and the rival eastern NOC.
Reuters said that workers at the terminal were instructed not to handle the tanker. She was due to load 600,000 barrels crude sold by Tripoli-based NOC. The cargo purchaser was said to be Glencore, which was believed to have agreed an exclusive deal with NOC to lift oil from Hariga.
The move came in response to last week's UN intervention on the 1995-built, Indian-flagged, Elektrans-managed Aframax Distya Ameya, which was to export 650,000 barrels of crude for NOC's own account.
The fully-loaded tanker was held off Malta for three days before being sent back to Libya to discharge its cargo in Zawia, reported London's Tanker Operator.
According to Reuters, a Tripoli-based oil official warned the country's oil output could fall by 120,000 barrels per day if the Benghazi-based NOC, set up by the eastern government, continues to block tankers loading from Hariga.
The stand-off at Hariga, part of a broader political struggle between factions in eastern and western Libya, threatens to further reduce oil output, which has fallen to less than a quarter of its 2011 high of 1.6 million barrels per day.
