Libya: Armed clashes close key oil refinery as fires erupt

Armed groups from two factions clashed around a key oil refinery in western Libya on Sunday, causing fires to break out in several storage units and forcing a suspension of operations at the facility.

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared a state of "force majeure" amid the incident, which exempts it from having to fulfill oil delivery contracts in the event that production has to be reduced.

The Zawiya refinery, some 45 km (28 miles) from the capital, Tripoli, is the only one that supplies fuel products to the local market.

Residents trapped

The damage from the fires was "a direct consequence of armed clashes using light and medium weapons in the refinery's vicinity," the NOC statement said, adding that emergency personnel "were able to bring the fires and gas leaks under control, and limit the spread of danger."

The clashes, reportedly between fighters loyal to the Shurafaa tribe and those led by warlord Mohamed Kushlaf, are continuing, with residents trapped in their homes in the town of Zawiya.

"Bullets are being fired indiscriminately, hitting houses and buildings," one resident told the Associated Press.

The fighting has also closed a major coastal road linking Zawiya to other cities in western Libya, and caused classes to be suspended.

The cause of the clashes was not immediately clear. However, the region, which is under the control both of various lawless militias and of armed groups allied with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, experiences frequent violence of this kind.

A nation in turmoil

Libya possesses the most abundant oil reserves on the African continent but has been in a constant state of instability since longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

For years now, it has been divided between rival administrations, Dbeibah's government in Tripoli and the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in the east, which is allied with the forces of the military strongman Khalifa Hifter.

However, recently, improved security conditions have allowed the country to produce more oil again.

From the some 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) Libya had produced for a decade, production rose to 1.4 million bpd in early December, slightly below pre-uprising levels of between 1.5 million bpd and 1.6 million bpd.

tj/zc (Reuters, AFP, AP)