Pipeline Leak Disrupts Libya’s Oil Exports

• Libya’s Es Sider pipeline has a major leak that will require a 7- 10-day shutdown for maintenance
• The news comes on the back of Tuesday’s report on skirmishes by armed groups that “severely” damaged Libya’s Zawiya Oil Complex
• The Es Sider shutdown will take 200,000 bpd of Libyan shipments out of commission

Libya’s Es Sider pipeline has a major leak that will require a 7- 10-day shutdown for maintenance, NOC reported on Wednesday.

The news comes on the back of Tuesday’s report on skirmishes by armed groups that “severely” damaged Libya’s Zawiya Oil Complex, Libya’s National Oil Corporation reported on Tuesday. 

The Es Sider shutdown will take 200,000 bpd of Libyan shipments out of commission, said NOC’s media department, according to Reuters. NOC blamed the leak on the fact that there is still no budget, after the parliament earlier rejected the GNU’s proposal.

Libya has been plagued with maintenance and security issues that have disrupted crude oil production, which have so far kept the OPEC producer from achieving its production goals.

13 petroleum products and crude oil storage tanks sustained damage on Tuesday, as well as an electrical transformer supplying power to the main station for oil mixing and filling.

The NOC was still determining the full extent of Tuesday’s damage when Wednesday’s pipeline disruption was announced.

“Such criminal acts cannot be accepted in or near our sites. Many of our facilities have been sabotaged during the past years as a result of clashes, but those damaged sites have been renovated and returned to work. It may take years to repair these new damages, and could cost the Libyan state an exponential amount of money, which is difficult to obtain,” Chairman of the NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, said on Tuesday, adding that “The infrastructure of the oil sector represents the lifeblood of the Libyan state. Therefore, vandalising these facilities, destroying them, or exposing their workers to danger, is a crime that cannot be tolerated. Therefore, we ask the respective authorities to extend their security in and around these sites, protect our workers, and provide security requirements to ensure we continue our operations there.”

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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