Libya's oil output is at a five-year high and rare exploration deals with foreign majors are being won but worker dissent and ever-present armed groups risk a repeat of disruptions that have choked off other production surges since the 2011 civil war. Staff at state oil firm NOC told Reuters that small protests had erupted at nine oil and gas fields and some ports in recent months, mainly among workers left waiting for promised pay rises as inflation and a weak currency erode living standards.
"We are the anonymous soldiers whose rights have been stolen," said a worker at the al-Intisar oil field, asking not to be named as NOC has banned workers from talking to the media. "We should be the best paid workers in Libya but we suffer from poor accommodation and medical treatment in the fields and delays in salary payments." Other staff made similar comments.
The most stable period of production in the North African country since 2013 has pushed output as high as 1.3 million barrels per day. NOC has restarted wells shut for years as security has improved in some areas, while oil majors like BP have said they will revive long-delayed exploration plans. But approaching or exceeding output of 1 million bpd has tended to be a psychological trigger for demands from workers and militia groups that also want a share of oil earnings.
In autumn 2014, blockades of oilfields and ports rapidly cut production after it had climbed to more than 800,000 bpd. In May, disruptions slashed output to around 150,000 bpd, its lowest since the war. Before 2011 Libya was producing around 1.6 million bpd.
Seven years after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled, the Opec member also remains mired in conflict between rival governments and armed groups.
LIVING STANDARDS
NOC said in a statement it had called on the government to approve a pay rise and "would continue to mediate on behalf of the sector for the improved financial rewards and conditions that employees deserve". But years of underfunding and destruction by militias had forced it to focus on damaged infrastructure.
"NOC is constantly having to redeploy budget to restore critical infrastructure; funds that could otherwise be spent on facilities and improving working conditions," it said. "The threat to Libyan oil and gas production is not from staff but from blockaders, fuel smugglers and others seeking to extort from the state." Libya was once one of Africa's richest countries but living standards for ordinary citizens have declined as the local currency has lost value. The dinar has dived on the parallel market against the dollar since 2014.
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