Libya’s National Oil Corporation warns of force majeure at Zawiya complex after drone attacks

The warning came hours after the state-owned company announced a state of maximum emergency at the Zawiya refinery after a drone strike ignited a storage tank containing about 4.5 million liters (1.2 million gallons) of gasoline.

Oil facilities in Zawiya, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Tripoli, have come under repeated attacks in recent days amid clashes between armed groups in the area.

In a statement issued late Monday, the company said oil facilities in Zawiya “continue to be subjected to sabotage attacks by remotely operated drones.”

It said a drone targeted the lubricant blending and filling plant operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Company, landing near the facility’s main lubricant storage tank and pipeline network used to produce lubricants for the domestic market.

The corporation said firefighting and safety teams from the Zawiya refinery, Brega and neighboring oil companies were continuing efforts to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading.

It stressed that protecting oil facilities, their workers and the continuity of production, storage and distribution was “a shared national responsibility,” warning that attacks on the facilities posed “a direct threat to the country’s security and safety.”

The latest incident marked the third consecutive drone attack on the Zawiya complex since Sunday, the corporation said, warning that the repeated strikes posed a growing threat to oil infrastructure and required an urgent response from the relevant authorities.

It said the latest attack caused no casualties or material damage.

Under Libya’s oil contracts, force majeure is a legal status that relieves contracting parties of obligations when extraordinary circumstances prevent them from fulfilling contractual commitments.

Last week, clashes between armed groups in Zawiya spread to the nearby city of Surman, leaving people dead and injured and resulting in a prison break.

Libya remains divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and a rival administration appointed by the House of Representatives and headed by Osama Hammad in Benghazi.

The UN Support Mission in Libya has been seeking to resolve political disputes that have delayed long-awaited national elections, which Libyans hope will help end years of political division and armed conflict following the 2011 overthrow of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.