Crude production in Libya is facing further setbacks this week, as loadings out of the 110,000 b/d Marsa al-Hariga crude terminal in Eastern Libya have stuttered to a halt.
Traders and shipping sources said that no there have been no recent vessel loadings at the terminal, recently the only one of the country's seven land-based terminals regularly exporting crude.
"Nothing's moving from Hariga at the moment," said a shipbroker. "The port is open but there doesn't seem to be oil flowing."
The Marsa al-Hariga terminal resumed operations in April after more than eight months of strikes and protests disrupted both export loadings at the terminal and production at the Mesla and Sarir crude fields which feed it.
However, traders said that the further deterioration of the security situation across Libya has carried in to Hariga, where guards have once again stepped in to prevent oil from leaving.
"The guards are preventing loading, so the tanks have topped out," a crude trader said. "The have been reducing production...[Tuesday] it was about 30-40,000 b/d, and it could stop [entirely.]" In recent weeks, there have been reports of a couple of fixtures from Hariga, but there still appears to be difficulties with loadings. The Alexia Aframax tanker was due to lift a 90,000-mt cargo for Total last week, but according to Platts' ship-tracking tool software cFlow, the vessel remains moored at Hariga.
A source at the ship manager confirmed the oil has not yet been loaded on to the vessel.
According to a report by a Mediterranean shipping company seen by Platts, the ports of Bouri, Jurf, Tripoli, Marsa el Brega, Marsa al Hariga and Zueitina are open. The ports of Mellitah and Zawiyah are open but crude oil is suspended, while the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf are closed due to a strike.
Exports briefly resumed at the 70,000 b/d Zueitina terminal on the Gulf of Sidra in early-May, but soon halted after production failed to restart that the crude fields feed into the port, leaving Marsa al-Hariga as the only land-based terminal regularly exporting crude from the country.
"There are a lot of ships fixing and failing, we're not seeing many physical loadings take place," said a charterer active in the Mediterranean.
"The Libyans are trying to show the world that they can export but I think they need the oil internally to supply the Zawiyah terminal. There simply does not seem to be much oil coming out," said the charterer.
