On Friday, the Libyan Oil Ministry warned that the closure of the country’s oil fields might lead to a declaration of force majeure, following the shutdown of three oil fields in protest of the kidnapping of a former finance minister.
The ministry urged all parties involved in recent incidents to keep oil production and exports out of disputes. In a statement, the ministry noted that closing the fields would severely affect the marketing of Libyan oil and undermine efforts to stabilize production.
Tribesmen in Libya shut down the Sharara and El Feel oil fields on Thursday, according to the Southeastern Branch of the Petroleum Facilities Guard. They aimed to pressure the release of the former finance minister, Faraj Boumatari, who was detained by a party at Mitiga International Airport in the capital, Tripoli, last Tuesday.
The head of the Supreme Council of the Azawia Tribes, Senussi Hleiq, stated in a press interview that they will continue until Boumatari is released. He threatened to shut off valves and water pumping stations for the man-made river, which supplies cities in the western region.
Senussi held the expired government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah responsible for Boumatari’s safety. Notables and elders of the Azawia tribes claimed in a Wednesday statement that Boumatari was blackmailed by influential people in Tripoli to withdraw his candidacy for the governor of the Central Bank, but he refused, and they continued to detain him.
The Libyan Parliament’s Justice Committee expressed its concern over the “kidnapping and detention” of Faraj Boumatari by a party at Mitiga Airport, stating the act was a “crime and a violation of the law, an attack on public freedoms and human rights.”
