Libyan Oil Shutdown Wipes Out Half a Million Barrels a Day
- Output hit as eastern government escalates row with rival
- Tussle surrounds central bank, manager of vast energy revenue
The Ras Lanuf oil refinery in Libya.
Photographer: Abdullah Doma/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Libya’s oil output has more than halved this week — and risks taking close to 1 million barrels a day off the global market — as the country’s fields reduce operations amid a stalemate over who controls the central bank.
Output has dropped to about 450,000 barrels a day since eastern authorities on Monday ordered a shutdown of all production, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Cuts or shutdowns include at Waha Oil Co., Sarir, and oil supplying the Ras Lanuf terminal.