Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) of UN-proposed Presidency Council took control of Ras Lanuf and Sidra oil ports from Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) on Tuesday.

Chief of PFG Brig. Idriss Saleh Abu Khamada announced the takeover in a brief statement from Ras Lanuf. He said his forces will stay far away from the political conflict and their mission is to protect the oil ports and fields in coordination with the National Oil Corporation.

Ras Lanuf and Sidra oil ports were retaken from Dignity Operation forces on Friday. Hours later, BDB forces called state authorities to assume full responsibility over the ports before they continue their march to Benghazi.

“We don’t have any interest in controlling the oil ports, we only wanted to expel Haftar’s militias and his mercenaries from them and hand them over to the Petroleum Facilities Guard,” a statement by Benghazi Defense Brigades said today.

Reacting to the takeover, the Italian Embassy in Tripoli said the deployment of PFG forces in the oil crescent region is a step in the right direction.