Libya declares force majeure after Zawiya refinery tank damage from gunfire

Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. declared force majeure on Dec. 15 after a number of storage tanks at the 120,000 b/d Zawiya refinery were "severely damaged" and caught fire after being hit by gunfire from nearby armed clashes.

Fires and gas leaks have since been brought under control, but fighting continues to pose a risk to the refinery, workers and the local population, the NOC said on X, formerly Twitter. The force majeure was declared "regrettably", it said.

"The NOC board urges relevant institutions and authorities to assume their responsibilities and act urgently to stop these clashes and keep oil facilities out of the conflict zone, regardless of the causes or motives," it said.

Back in September, the refinery located 40km west of the capital Tripoli went offline due to an electrical fault at a crude distillation unit and returned to full operations in mid-October.

Zawiya has two distillation units capable of processing 60,000 b/d each and runs on light sweet crude, primarily from the country's huge Sharara field.

It is operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Co., a subsidiary of NOC, which in turn operates the Sharara oil field in a joint venture with IOCs including Spain's Repsol and France's TotalEnergies.

The plant produces diesel, fuel oil, jet fuel, gasoline and LPG. Sharara crude not used by the refinery is exported from the Zawiya port.

Exports movement

The fire may affect crude exports, a Tripoli-based source said.

"The impact of the tank fire on the exports movement lies in the fact that the Zawiya refinery has four tanks to store crude oil coming through the Sharara - Rayayna - Zawiya line, and the loss of one of the tanks will have a very important impact on reducing the maximum capacity there," the source said.

The force majeure is the latest disruption to Libya's oil operations, which are frequently affected by political and civil unrest.

Between late August and early October, around 50% of Libyan crude production was taken offline due to a dispute over leadership of the Libyan central bank, which receives and distributes oil revenue.

Output had fully recovered and stood at 1.17 million b/d in November, according to the Platts OPEC+ survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Libya's oil sector, which contributes an estimated 93% of government revenue, has faced significant disruption since Moammar Qadhafi was toppled in 2011 in a NATO-backed uprising.