Libya Oil Output Slides as Power Cuts Mix With Protests Since the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, Libya’s oil industry has become the target of violent attacks and civil protests. The latest challenge is a lack of electricity. Production dropped 16 percent to 1.13 million barrels a day last month, the lowest since January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The decline is partly because power shortages are disrupting the pumps that lift oil from beneath the ground, said Abdel Jalil Mayuf, a spokesman for state-run Arabian Gulf Oil Co., which pumps crude in eastern Libya. The oil and natural gas industry makes up more than 70 percent of Libya’s economy and generates almost all the state’s revenue, according to the International Monetary Fund. Falling output is also a challenge for international companies including Italy’s Eni SpA (ENI), which gets more output from Libya, North Africa’s largest producer, than any other country. “The country has been through a tumultuous time,” said Sana Abid, an oil analyst at KBC Energy Economics. “It looks bleak for Libya at the moment. They are going to struggle and that’s reflected in declining output.” The Libyan government is trying to address the problems facing oil producers, quadrupling the size of a special guard to protect the industry from attacks to 12,000 people this year. To ensure electricity supply, Libya signed a deal with London-based contractor APR Energy Plc (APR) to provide 450 megawatts of power through mobile generators, the largest ever single contract for temporary power supply. bloomberg/news/2013-07-08/libya-oil-output-slumps-as-power-cuts-mix-with-protests-energy.html
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 10:34:53 +0000