Protesters who call themselves the “Oil Crescent Movement” shut down Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports on Tuesday morning.
The protesters prevented the oil tanker "Alpha Finlandia" from loading a shipment of approximately 600,000 barrels at Es Sider port. Two engineers at the port confirmed to Reuters that the protesters blocked the tanker from entering the facility.
Bloomberg also reported that oil loading operations at the Sidra and Ras Lanuf ports have been halted. A source at Sidra port told Bloomberg that the protesters disrupted the loading process of one of the tankers.
Reuters highlighted that such protests have previously disrupted oil operations, pointing to a similar incident in January of last year when protesters forced workers at the Sharara oil field to halt production.
On January 6, the protesters issued a statement under the name of the movement, giving the National Oil Corporation (NOC) a two-week ultimatum from the date of the statement to meet their demands. They warned of resorting to shutting down oil fields and closing ports in the region if their demands had not been met.
The protesters called for fair distribution of resources, improved living conditions for the residents of the Oil Crescent region, and the relocation of the headquarters of five oil companies from Tripoli to the Oil Crescent area.
