Libyan rebels say control oil fields, honour deals

Rebels in eastern Libya said on Friday they now controlled most of the oil fields east of the town of Ras Lanuf, and said they would honour oil deals as long as they were in the interest of the people.

The eastern Libyan town of Brega and its oil terminal are under rebel control, and soldiers who have defected are helping the rebels to secure the port, Reuters witnesses said on Friday.

“This area is controlled by the people,” said Mabrook Maghraby, a lawyer from Benghazi who is now involved with the local committees defending Brega.

If oil contracts were unfair or based on corruption, however, the interim leadership of Libya’s second city Benghazi said they reserved the right to renegotiate them.

Many of Libya’s key oil producing areas and terminals are located in the east of the OPEC member state, large chunks of which have fallen to rebels seeking to oust veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.

“Nearly all the oilfields in Libya east of Ras Lanuf are now controlled by the people and the government has no control in this area,” said Abdessalam Najib, a petroleum engineer at the Libyan company Agico and member of the Feb 17. coalition that says it is running Libya’s second city on an interim basis.

“The people at the fields and those transporting it (oil) to terminals are still working, but (work has been) shut down by, let us say, 75 percent. I work in oilfields and I was told this by someone at a very big oil company in Brega.”

Oil industry sources outside Libya say crude oil shipments from Libya, the world’s 12th-largest exporter, have almost halted because of reduced production, a lack of staff at ports and security concerns.

MUST BE FAIR

Jammal bin Nour, a judge and member of the Feb. 17 coalition, told Reuters oil contracts signed by Gaddafi’s government would be respected as long as they were fair, good for Libyans, and not based on corruption.