Libyan National Oil Company Hints at Declaring Force Majeure at the Zawiya Complex

The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) signaled on Tuesday its intention to declare a force majeure and completely halt operations at the Zawiya oil complex in western Libya, following repeated attacks by unidentified drones on storage tanks. This comes hours after the state-owned corporation announced a state of emergency at the Zawiya refinery complex on Monday, after massive fires broke out due to a drone strike on a tank containing approximately 4.5 million liters of gasoline.

Prior to this, on Sunday, the NOC announced that the Zawiya desalination plant had been targeted by a drone.

Oil facilities in Zawiya, located 40 kilometers west of Tripoli, have been subjected to repeated attacks recently, interspersed with clashes between armed groups in the area.

In a statement late Monday night into Tuesday, the Libyan NOC said that "oil assets in Zawiya continue to be subjected to sabotage attacks by remotely piloted drones."

It added that "the oil blending and packaging plant belonging to the Zawiya Oil Refining Company was recently targeted by another drone (of unspecified origin), which fell near the main oil tank and the pipeline network used for producing oils for the local market."

The corporation clarified that "firefighting and safety teams at the Zawiya and Al-Brega refineries, as well as neighboring oil companies, are continuing their efforts to control the fire and prevent its spread."

It stressed that "protecting oil facilities and their workers, as well as ensuring the continuity of production, storage, and distribution operations, is a shared national responsibility," noting that "any targeting of these facilities poses a direct threat to the country's security and safety."

According to the corporation, this attack is "the third consecutive incident on Sunday and Monday, signaling a danger lurking over the oil assets in the area and necessitating urgent and precise intervention by relevant authorities under all their designations."

The corporation confirmed that there were no human or material casualties resulting from the latest attack.

The board of directors of the corporation also affirmed that "if these attacks continue, it will be forced to declare force majeure and completely halt operations at the refinery."

Force majeure is a legal status that exempts contracting parties from any obligations arising from one party's failure to fulfill the terms of a contract in the field of oil exports.

Last week, Zawiya witnessed clashes between armed groups that spread to the nearby town of Sirte, resulting in deaths, injuries, and the escape of prisoners.

In recent months, Zawiya has experienced armed confrontations that have caused casualties and damaged vital infrastructure.

Two governments are competing for power in Libya: the Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and based in Tripoli, which controls western Libya; and the second, appointed by the House of Representatives in early 2022, currently led by Osama Hammad and based in Benghazi, which controls eastern Libya and most of the southern regions.

For years, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has been working to resolve longstanding disputes among Libyan institutions that have prevented the holding of elections in the oil- and gas-rich country.

Libyans hope that the long-awaited elections will bring an end to political and armed conflicts, and conclude the continuous transitional periods that have persisted since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime (1969–2011).