In what is the first confirmed strike against a foreign-owned oil asset, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said a warehouse in Tripoli that it owns jointly with Italian Eni was hit after an air strike. The air strike comes as Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army continues its offense on Tripoli, currently held by the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. Now, with all eyes on the Middle East and Venezuela, and on U.S.-Chinese trade talks, analysts seem to have missed the growing risks for oil production from the continued fighting in Libya. NOC started to warn as early as in April that hostilities could threaten production, and this time, the situation could be worse than at the start of the civil war in 2011. The threat is rising at a time when NOC is making progress towards recovering Libya’s oil production after a slump following the civil war.

Source: Libya Today June 19, 2019 14:26 UTC