Members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in western Libya announced on Sunday evening the reopening of Al-Zawiya Refinery and Mellitah Oil Complex, following a meeting they said they had held with the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, in Tripoli.
In two separate televised statements in front of the Al-Zawiya Refinery and the Mellitah Complex, west of Tripoli, PFG members announced the reopening after the closure they announced on Sunday afternoon, in which they demanded that the government pay financial dues and increase their salaries.
Dbeibah's government did not comment on the closure, but the Prime Minister on Sunday evening issued a decision to determine the salaries of members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard according to the unified salary bracket for members of the Libyan Army.
PFG members announced earlier on Sunday the closure of oil fields and ports throughout the country, in front of Al-Zawiya Refinery, after the end of a ten-day deadline they granted to Dbeibah's government to answer their demands, which include increasing their salaries by 67%.
The National Oil Corporation said that its designated Chairman of the Board of Directors, Masoud Suleiman, discussed with the Head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, Abdul Razzaq Al-Khurmani, their demands and expressed his “understanding” for those demands, but stressed “the necessity of keeping oil facilities away from any tensions.”
