Rebels battling the reign of Muammar al-Gaddafi are set to enlarge their war chest with the export of their first oil shipment since taking control of Libya’s eastern oil fields.

 

About one million barrels of crude will be loaded onto a tanker at the port of Marsa el-Hariga near Tobruk and then, presumably, shipped to Qatar, which previously announced it would help the rebels market their oil abroad. Reportedly, the tanker Equator, which is owned by George Prokopiou’s Dynacom Tankers Management, arrived at the port in the afternoon of April 5.

 

The shipment is reportedly worth $100 million.

 

Libya, Africa’s third largest oil producer, has exported very little oil since the civil war broke out two months ago. Before the conflict, the country exported 1.6 million barrels a day.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Libyan Rebels Prepare for First Oil Export (Oil & Gas Engineer)

Libyan Rebels Sign Oil Export Contract (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)