General Haftar’s Libyan Oil Offensive

The Brega oil refinery in 2011 Source: Wikimedia Commons

General Khalifa Haftar ceded control of four coastal oil ports to the Libyan national government on September 14, moving to ease tensions in the fraught country days after his forces seized control of the strategic “oil crescent.” Haftar, who opposes the UN-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), turned over the ports at Brega, Las Ranuf, Zueitina, and Es Sider to the National Oil Corporation, which announced on September 21 that it had shipped 770,000 barrels to Italy.

The September 11 Operation Swift Thunder offensive, conducted by Haftar’s Libyan National Army to target oil terminals held by the GNA-allied Petroleum Facilities Guard, was a major power play. It aimed to further establish the general—and his sponsor, the House of Representatives in Tobruk—as a formidable challenger to the GNA. The United States and its European allies condemned Haftar’s move, asserting that the oil belonged to the Libyan people.

Haftar, a former general under ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, made a dramatic reentry in February 2014, when he decried the national government’s perceived inaction against Islamist militants. That May, he launched Operation Dignity against eastern Islamists and retook Benghazi, winning the backing of eastern Libyans and the Tobruk parliament, as well as covert Western support. However, Haftar’s opposition to the GNA, in part due to its use of militias, has contributed to a political deadlock and enduring power struggle.

Despite the apparent resolution of the crisis, fighting broke out once more on September 18 as Haftar’s forces repulsed a Petroleum Facilities Guard counterattack on the oil terminals, leaving their ultimate fate—and Libya’s future—uncertain.