Libya has lost $1billion due to the disruption in oil production in the past five months alone.
"When fields get in the hands of strangers, production there
gets put on hold," Libya's Oil Minister Abdulbari Al-Arusi told
the Financial Times.
The Libyan government is trying to solve the problem and has
increased the number of oil facility security personnel to
18,000.
"We recruited many former rebels who fought against the Gaddafi
regime," Al-Arusi said "In principle, we are able to cope with the
problem of the security of the oil industry, but the situation is
quite complicated," he stressed.
Companies should consider corporate social responsibility programs
for the local communities, said Mr Arusi. “They can offer health
and educational services, or train people or lay on some transport,
perhaps a bus or an ambulance,” he said.
Violent incidents when rival armed groups fight over who gets to
guard Libyan oil and gas facilities have become more frequent in
post-Gaddafi Libya. Heavily armed militias have seized oil
facilities, and local tribes demanding jobs have blockaded oil
fields and sea terminals.
Before the 2011 revolution that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya had
been a major oil producer. With Africa's largest proven reserves of
sweet oil, that account for some 40 billion barrels, the country
had been producing at a rate of around 1.6 million barrels per day,
according to the Libyan National Oil Company. Libya's Deputy Oil
Minister Omar Shakmak recently said the government plans to
increase current production from 1.5 million barrels of oil
equivalent per day to 1.7 million by the end of this year.