Ongoing fighting caused extensive damage to oil infrastructure at Libya’s eastern oil ports on 17 June as groups opposed to Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) battled for control of the key strategic export terminals.

Storage tank No. 2 was set on fire during the fighting. Officials said it was holding 200,000 barrels of crude at the time.

Storage tank No. 12 was damaged and set alight on 14 June, when fighting started, prompting officials to warn of extensive environmental damage.

Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) shut and evacuated oil export terminals, declaring force majeure on exports.

It has said the immediate production loss is 240,000 barrels a day (b/d) and warned this could rise to 400,000 b/d if the ports remain closed.

The LNA, led by General Khalifa Haftar, has controlled Libya’s eastern oil ports since 2016.

The groups that launched the attack on 14 June are said to be led by Ibrahim Jathran, a tribal leader and former Petroleum Facilities Guard, the group that controlled the region before the rise of Haftar.