An Oil Rebound in Libya Rests on Shaky Political Foundations
- Libyan oil fields have reopened, but risk of conflict remains
- Long-serving chair of state oil company dismissed at gunpoint
This article is for subscribers only.
Libya’s oil production has risen in the past two weeks, bringing hope the OPEC member’s exports can stabilize at more than 1 million barrels a day and provide relief to a tight global market.
Yet anyone looking for signs of how sustainable the rebound is should consider the catalyst: the gunpoint ouster of the state oil company’s long-standing chairman. Now in Turkey, Mustapha Sanalla had to quit the National Oil Corp. after government troops arrived at its headquarters in the capital of Tripoli in mid-July.