Libya’s deputy oil minister said that protests by security guards have knocked the country’s oil exports down to five times less than what they were prior to the 2011 war that toppled long time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Omar el-Shakmak said that Libya is currently exporting between 3,00,000 and 3,20,000 barrels of oil per day, down half of what it was last week and five times less than the 1.6 million it was exporting before the war.
He warned that if three oil pipelines in the western part of the country remain closed for more than a week, the country will suffer a fuel shortage.
Protests by guards at refineries and ports, as well as gunmen demanding money, have also hurt Libya’s oil exports and shut down ports in the east.