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The National Oil Corporation reported that the Monday evening strike targeted a blending and packaging plant at the Zawiya complex with the drone landing close to the primary oil tank and pipelines supplying the domestic market. A subsequent fire engulfed a gasoline storage tank holding 4.5 million litres that belonged to the Brega Oil Marketing Company causing the tank to collapse according to both the NOC and the oil ministry. Libyan firefighters and emergency personnel have struggled to bring the blaze under control as thick smoke rose over the area 50 kilometres west of Tripoli while officials confirmed no serious injuries resulted although some cases of smoke inhalation were treated by the Ambulance and Emergency Service.
In its statement issued on Tuesday the corporation described the incident as the latest in a string of three attacks since Sunday that also struck a naphtha reservoir and a desalination plant in the same city. The NOC said it was prepared to declare force majeure and completely shut down the refinery to protect assets and staff if such violence persisted. It called on Libyan authorities to launch a thorough investigation to determine the perpetrators and prevent further destabilisation of critical energy infrastructure.
NOC data from June placed the country’s total oil and condensate production at 1.5 million barrels per day marking the highest daily average recorded since 2013 and advancing toward longer-term targets of 2 million barrels daily. The Zawiya refinery contributes significantly to that output with its daily capacity of 120,000 barrels making it the largest functioning facility while other major plants remain offline the corporation has indicated. This recovery has been supported by rehabilitation projects and renewed international interest from companies including TotalEnergies and Eni according to industry assessments published by S&P Global.
A Reuters dispatch noted that the Zawiya refinery had been forced to close for several days in May following armed clashes in the vicinity that raised safety concerns and disrupted the coastal road. Libya’s oil sector has endured repeated interruptions since the 2011 fall of the Gaddafi regime with rival administrations in Tripoli and the east often clashing over control of resources. Such events have at times slashed national production to below 400,000 barrels per day during periods of intense fighting according to World Bank records.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has documented Libya’s plans to exceed 2 million barrels per day by the late 2020s through new developments and foreign partnerships yet ongoing security threats continue to jeopardise those ambitions. The latest drone attacks which caused no casualties in the initial naphtha strike on Saturday according to the Zawiya Oil Refining Company illustrate the vulnerability of these facilities amid persistent political fragmentation. The National Oil Corporation has maintained a state of maximum alert in the Zawiya area in response to the repeated incidents.
