Oil fields: Libya 'safe' for fleeing workers

Published on Monday 28 February 2011 18:01

Libya's oil chief yesterday said production has been cut by 50 per cent, and argued it was "safe" for foreign oil workers to return after a mass exodus sparked by the ongoing unrest.

The assurances by Shukri Ghanem, the head of the state-run National Oil Company, came as uncertainty swirled about the state of the Opec member's production and who was actually in control of the brunt of the nation's oil.

Mr Ghanem insisted the government in Tripoli remained in control of all the oil installations - from fields to refineries and pipelines. He rejected an assessment put forward by EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger yesterday that Col Gaddafi had lost control of the country's main oil and gas fields.

"He does not control the oil," Mr Ghanem said, referring to Mr Oettinger. "You can believe who you want, but I am the chairman of the National Oil Company."

However, Mr Ghanem added: "Of course there is a drastic cut in production. The main reason for the oil production to come down is the panic of foreign labourers, who felt they had to leave. All labourers will be safe if they return."

The comments came hours after officials in Libya's east, which has thrown off Col Gaddafi's rule, said that the Tobruk port had reopened and one China-bound tanker was being loaded with one million barrels of crude. Another tanker, destined for Italy, was waiting to pick up its cargo of 600,000 barrels of Libya's light sweet crude - a refiner's favourite.

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