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NOC confirms illegal closure of pipeline providing gas to the power stations and strategic factories in Western Libya

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In a statement today, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed the illegal closure on Thursday April 9, 2020, of a gas pipeline which provides approximately 200 million cubic feet of gas daily to cement factories and to el-Khoms and Misurata power stations, causing shortages in electricity supplies to the western region. The pipeline was shut at valve LVS-5 in the region of Sidi el-Sayeh. 

NOC and its subsidiary Brega Petroleum Marketing Company (BPMC) are now directing imported diesel to power stations that can use liquid fuels. However, this will increase costs and put further pressure on reduced budgets, due to the ongoing disruption of local refineries as a result of oil blockades in the country. 

“At a critical juncture in the fight against COVID-19, some Libyans decided to abuse the situation and starve the capital of electricity. This puts more pressure on NOC to import large quantities of fuel, which is especially difficult due to the new restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the disease,” said NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla, “This criminal and inhumane closure must end immediately without delay.”

Turkey sends medical aid to Libya amid Coronavirus

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Turkey sent medical supplies to Libya to help fight the novel coronavirus. Hence, it has sent supplies such as protective equipment and sanitizers.

“At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the preventative measures against COVID-19 virus, medical supplies were sent to our Libyan brothers and our military training cooperation and consultancy teams who are on duty in the region,” the country’s National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

GECOL: Four power networks recovered

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The General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) claimed that its maintenance teams have completed repairing 3 power units in Al Khums Power Station, and the second power unit in Misurata Gas station.

GECOL urged civil society organizations, philanthropic communities, mayors of municipalities, and all those affected by the power outage to intervene urgently in reopening the gas line in the region of Sidi Al-Sayeh so it could restore electricity to the affected areas.

It called for those responsible for the power crisis to take into full account the special needs of children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases.

Ministry of Interior establishes an ideal mechanism to return stranded Libyans home

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The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Khaled Mazen declared that they are seeking to return the stranded Libyans who are stuck abroad, especially those in Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt.

During a press conference , Khaled Mazen confirmed that they are working on finding an ideal mechanism to return stranded Libyans home without affecting the citizens inside the country, adding that all measures will be taken before Ramadan.

On the other hand, the scientific consultative committee to combat Covid-19 formed by the Presidential Council has established a scientific protocol that guarantees the return of stranded travelers abroad and at the same time, maintains the public safety.

Health Ministry reopens Hadhba Hospital

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After one day of closure due to rocket attacks that destroyed a drug store, an operating room, and other departments, the Hadhba Hospital in Tripoli has been reopened again, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health.

It will be reminded that the ministry suspended work at the hospital on Thursday after it was hit by three rocket attacks in a week by Haftar’s militias, the thing that forced the ministry to evacuate the hospital, especially after the occurrence of injuries among the staff.

“Such cowardly act deserves a universal condemnation,” the ministry claimed, adding that targeting health facilities amounts to a war crime, as defined by international covenants and laws.

U.N. condemns water shutoff to Libyan capital

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The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Libya on Friday condemned the cutting off of water supply to the capital Tripoli over the past week as “particularly reprehensible” and said it must stop immediately.

An armed group on Monday stormed a control station at Shwerif, stopping water from being pumped and threatening workers, the Great Man Made River Project, which supplies water to much of Libya, said in a statement.

The armed group is seeking to use the water cut-off as pressure to force the release of detained family members, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said in a statement.

The supply has been cut to more than 2 million people in Tripoli and nearby towns and cities.

Tripoli, seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), has been under assault for a year by the eastern-based Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar.

An escalation in fighting since mid-March has involved intense bombardment, particularly in the south of the city near the front lines, with projectiles hitting a hospital.

The warfare has hindered efforts to prepare Libya’s already tattered health system for an outbreak of the coronavirus, with 24 cases confirmed in the country. State efforts to slow the spread of the disease have included a curfew.

Electricity supply has also been repeatedly cut in Tripoli and some other areas over the past week.

“At this moment when Libya is fighting the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to water and electricity is more than ever life saving, and such individual acts to collectively punish millions of innocent people are abhorrent and must stop immediately,” Hillo said.

OPEC exempts Libya from production cuts

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After Thursday’s meeting between energy ministers of 23 OPEC and non-OPEC allies, the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh claimed today that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have reached an agreement for cutting their oil output by at least 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in the upcoming months of May and June, adding that Libya is exempted from production cuts.

“The production cuts are going to start on 1 May 2020, for an initial period of two months that concludes on 30 June 2020. Then for another 6-month period, from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020, the total adjustment agreed will be 8.0 million bpd,” the oil minister said.

It will be followed by a 6.0 million bpd adjustment for a period of 16 months, from 1 January 2021 to 30 April 2022, the official added.

This is the first time in the organization’s history that a decision is made which covers a two-year time span, he stressed.

Russia expects oil cuts of 5 million bpd on top of OPEC+

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Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday he expected oil production cuts by countries outside of the OPEC+ group to amount to 5 million barrels per day (bpd).

“We believe that, in addition to the 10 million barrels (per day), which was undertaken by OPEC+, there would be another 5 million barrels (per day) from oil producers outside of OPEC+,” he told Russian state television channel Rossiya-24.

Novak said Canada, which is not a member of OPEC+, was ready to cut oil output by around 1 million bpd. He didn’t say how much the United States could contribute.

Coronavirus will unleash worst recession since Great Depression

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The pandemic sweeping the world will turn global economic growth “sharply negative” in 2020, triggering the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva painted a far bleaker picture of the social and economic impact of the new coronavirus than even a few weeks ago, noting governments had already undertaken fiscal stimulus measures of $8 trillion, but more would likely be needed.

She said the crisis would hit emerging markets and developing countries hardest of all, which would then need hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid.

“Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in over 160 of our member countries in 2020,” she said on Thursday in remarks prepared for delivery ahead of next week’s IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings.

“Today, that number has been turned on its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.”

If the pandemic faded in the second half of the year, the IMF expected a partial recovery in 2021, Georgieva said, but she warned the situation could also get worse.

“I stress there is tremendous uncertainty about the outlook: it could get worse depending on many variable factors, including the duration of the pandemic,” she said.