Tripoli (AFP)

The Libyan National Petroleum Company (NOC) announced Friday the resumption of production and exports of oil in Libya after about six months of deadlock linked to the conflict in the country.

Libya, which has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa, is torn apart by a conflict between two rival powers: the Government of National Union (GNA) recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli and Marshal Khalifa Haftar, which rules over the East and part of the South.

Aided militarily by Ankara, the pro-GNA have garnered important victories in recent months, taking control of the entire northwest and driving out the pro-Haftar who have been conducting an offensive since April 2019 to take the capital Tripoli.

However, Marshal Haftar - supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia - retains control of the majority of the oil installations.

The pro-Haftar have blocked since January 17 oil production and exports on the most important fields and terminals of the country, to claim, according to them, a fair distribution of the oil revenues managed by the GNA.

A first ship was to start loading the crude oil from the oil port of al-Sedra (east) during the day, the NOC said in a press release.

But production will take time to reach its pre-blocking levels - around 1.2 million barrels per day - "due to the significant damage to tanks and infrastructure caused by the illegal blockade imposed since January 17," she said. .

The company also announced "the lifting of force majeure on exports" in Libya. This measure, invoked in exceptional circumstances, allows exemption from the responsibility of the NOC in the event of non-compliance with oil delivery contracts.

Officially, the NOC is a neutral and independent entity, but the Haftar camp accuses it of funding the "GNA militias".

- Paris and Washington satisfied -

"We are finally very happy to be able to take this important step towards the restoration" of national production, welcomed the boss of the company, Mustafa Sanalla.

For its part, the US Embassy, ​​relocated to Tunis since its closure in Libya in 2014, welcomed on Twitter the lifting of "force majeure" and the resumption of "vital activity for all the Libyans "

The French Embassy, ​​also relocated to Tunis, welcomed the resumption of production, saying it rejected "the militarization of oil installations" and stressing "the importance of preserving the neutrality and the monopoly of the NOC".

Libya intended to increase its oil production to 2.1 million barrels in 2024. But due to the damage caused by the blockage of oil sites, production should not exceed 650,000 barrels / day in 2022.

Without giving more details, the NOC had recently reported on talks between, on the one hand the GNA and the NOC, and on the other hand "the states of the region" supporting Marshal Haftar.

The objective of these negotiations "supervised by the UN and the United States" was to allow the resumption of production, whose shutdown since January has caused losses of more than 6.5 billion dollars.

- "Blackmail" -

The negotiated agreement stipulates that "all oil revenues will continue to be deposited in the NOC's (bank) accounts", according to the NOC.

They will be blocked pending a guarantee on "financial transparency, equal opportunities and social justice for all Libyans", and new security measures to prevent, in the future, oil sites from being " a military target or a tool of political blackmail. "

The distribution of oil rent frequently provokes dissension in Libya, especially among the pro-Haftar where it is considered inequitable.

Since 2011, voices have been raised against this injustice, a complaint to which Marshal Haftar often alludes when referring to the motivations of his military campaign against the GNA, which ended in failure.

Libya has been plagued by violence and power struggles since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, killed during a popular revolt in 2011.

© 2020 AFP