Oil Export Uncertainty: Front Jaguar Loads Amid Libyan Port Blockade

The Front Jaguar oil tanker managed to load oil at Libya's Brega port despite ongoing export blockades. Eastern authorities halted oil exports as a response to conflicts over the Central Bank of Libya's leadership. The crisis threatens Libya's fragile peace and has significantly reduced oil production.

The 600,000-barrel oil tanker Front Jaguar loaded at Libya's Brega port on Wednesday, despite a blockade that has halted other exports, according to engineers and Kpler data. The engineers said the tanker was allowed to load oil from storage after exports at major Libyan ports were stopped, but did not provide more details.

Major Libyan ports have been shut for nearly a week, oil output has dropped dramatically since eastern authorities ordered a shutdown on Aug. 26, in reaction to western factions attempting to oust Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Governor Sadiq al-Kabir. The eastern authorities aim to replace him with a rival board.

Libya's two legislative bodies announced on Tuesday that they agreed on a mechanism to resolve the dispute over CBL control, which oversees revenue from the country's oil exports, constituting the bulk of the national wealth. Crude exports remained paused at Zueitina port, though the 5,000-ton capacity tanker Gaz United was expected to arrive on Thursday to load propane, engineers informed Reuters.

The crisis concerning CBL control risks ending a four-year period of relative peace in Libya, a major oil exporter caught between eastern and western factions. The National Oil Corporation (NOC), ruling over Libya's oil assets, declared force majeure at the El Feel oilfield, reducing the current production by more than half to just over 590,000 barrels per day (bpd). It remains unclear where production levels currently stand.

Reuters reported that Libya's Sarir, Messla, and Nafoura oilfields were instructed to resume production by their operator, Arabian Gulf Oil Company, an NOC subsidiary. Output from Sarir and Messla, amounting to about 150,000 bpd, was reaching Hariga port for local use while any surplus was stored, engineers confirmed.

(With inputs from agencies.)