Libya: Warplanes Strike Near Al-Zawiya Oil Refinery

The oil infrastructure of Libya has once again found itself in the crosshairs of the country’s prolonged civil conflict between the UN-backed Government of National Accord and Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

The country's 120,000 b / d Al-Zawiya refinery was the target of an airstrike on Friday and the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported that sites near the Al-Zawiya refinery's oil storage facility were struck by a bomb on Friday.

Nonetheless, a source close to the issue said that the strikes did not affect operations at the refinery.

NOC said a storage warehouse west of Al-Zawiya refinery gate was hit by the airstrike but no casualties were reported.

"Refinery targeting is a war crime. If the refinery is destroyed, critical facilities like hospitals and fuel power and desalination plants will be robbed," said Mustafa Sanalla, NOC chairman.

"It will require additional imports of gasoline and diesel, costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to the Libyan people. Repeating such ridiculous acts would result in human deaths, material damage and disasters of the environment."

Oil infrastructure in western Libya is a key risk, particularly the town of Al-Zawiya, home to an export terminal of 300,000 b / d and a refinery of 120,000 b / d, along with Sabratha, where the gas and condensate terminal is located. Due to military activity around the site, Libya's El Feel field in the southwest of the country was briefly shut down in late November.