Libya: temporary closure of the largest oil field linked to arms trafficking

At the beginning of January 2024, to everyone's surprise, Libya's largest oil field, al-Sharara, was closed by demonstrators who were officially protesting against their economic and social conditions, in southern Libya abandoned by Tripoli. But other reasons seem to have motivated this closure of more than two weeks, as revealed by the Spanish press.

The al-Sharara oil field in Libya, some 900 kilometers south of Tripoli. (Illustrative image) © Ismail Zitoun / Reuters

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It was a leak from the Spanish police to the press which revealed the affair. As two Spanish media,

Cronica Global

and

Atlantico Hoy

, wrote this weekend

, the closure of the Libyan oil field was allegedly organized by Saddam Haftar, the most influential son of Marshal Haftar who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east of the country. He would have wanted to take revenge on the Spanish authorities, who had blocked his arms trafficking.

According to a report from the Spanish National Police obtained by the media in question, at the end of 2023 Spain intercepted weapons and military equipment transported from Europe to Abu Dhabi, with the city of Benghazi,

in Libya

, as the destination. final. Saddam Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Tarek Ben Ziad brigade, one of the strongest and most equipped in the Libyan National Army, was to be the recipient.

According to the police, Madrid granted Saddam Haftar authorization to transport commercial goods on behalf of two foreign companies domiciled in the United Arab Emirates: the al-Asala company, for the import of clothing and textiles, and the al-Aldra Alameen Security, a security consulting firm. 

340,000 barrels of oil produced every day

What does this affair have to do with

the al-Sharara oil field

, which produces 340,000 barrels of oil per day? This oil field, the largest in Libya, is in fact located in the south of the country, an area under the control of the ANL. And it is Repsol, one of the main Spanish oil groups, which mainly operates it.

The closure of this oil field therefore seems to have taken place, says the Spanish press, on the instructions of Saddam Haftar, who aimed to hit the interests of the Repsol company and impose a new equation on Europe: oil for weapons.

On January 3, groups of demonstrators closed the Sharara oil field, demanding an improvement in their living conditions, the construction of a refinery in the south, the maintenance of dilapidated roads, and an end to shortages of fuel in southern Libya. Production from the Sharara oil field resumed two weeks later, on January 21, but did not fail to cause a surge in world oil prices, affected by the temporary cessation of Libyan production.

Read alsoLibya: the Algerian oil giant Sonatrach, which left the country in 2014, announces its return

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