Libya Exports Stored Crude From Marsa El-Brega

Libya has begun exporting crude from the Marsa el-Brega oil terminal to free up storage space at the port.

Austria's OMV has booked the Episkopi to pick up 600,000 bl from Marsa el-Brega today, according to shipping and trading sources. Vortexa data show that the vessel has completed loading and is bound for Trieste in Italy, the starting point of the Transalpine pipeline.

BP has also booked a tanker to load crude from Marsa el-Brega over 1-3 September, shipping sources said. The Aframax Aegean Myth is currently in the vicinity of the terminal.

Trading sources say the Brega crude exports are coming from storage and do not represent fresh production. Condensate exports from Marsa el-Brega resumed last week, with trading firm Vitol chartering the Valle di Siviglia to load a cargo from the terminal.

Marsa el-Brega and all other oil terminals in eastern Libya have been intermittently blockaded since January by forces affiliated with Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). Power outages across the country and a heightened risk of explosions from nearby shooting have led the LNA-allied Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) — which previously protected state-owned NOC's oil assets — to allow exports of stored supplies to resume. Freeing up storage space will permit NOC to continue associated gas production, which is critical for power generation. Source: Argus Media