One of the main refineries in western Libya has been closed after clashes between local armed groups broke out early on Sunday and caused fires in the infrastructure, the national oil company announced last night, quoted by Agence France-Presse and BTA.
According to videos posted on social networks, several tanks at the Zawiya refinery caught fire, but the fire has been brought under control. The city is located 45 km west of Tripoli, and the refinery is the only one in western Libya that supplies the local market with fuel.
Built in 1974, the Zawiya refinery, which is also a port terminal for importing and exporting fuels, is the largest in the country after Ras Lanuf, with a refining capacity of over 120,000 barrels per day.
In a press release, the NOC oil company announced the suspension of production due to "force majeure and a third (maximum) state of emergency following the failure of several tanks at the Zawiya refinery in the early hours of December 15".
The fires broke out as a result of clashes between armed groups in the perimeter of the refinery, in which heavy weapons were also used, according to the same source. Libyan news sites reported one death and ten injuries among the armed groups, but the information has not been officially confirmed.
All fires in the affected refinery tanks have been extinguished, NOC spokesman Khaled Ghulam stressed on the Libyan TV channel "Al Ahrar". "We assure the residents of Zawiya and Tripoli that fuel supplies from the tanks of the distribution company Brega Oil are not threatened and the distribution of gasoline to gas stations continues without interruption," he added.
Zawiya is the scene of constant fierce fighting between armed groups. In May, clashes between rival gangs left one person dead and about a dozen injured before tribal elders and chiefs intervened, AFP recalls. According to the Libyan news agency Lana, classes have been suspended in all schools and at the university in Zawiya.
After a closure that lasted until early morning, the road connecting the city to Tripoli has reopened.