If there’s one product that Libya has and the West wants, it’s oil. In a move to bolster their campaign to overthrow the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi, rebels in Libya have reached an agreement to export oil they control in the North African country’s eastern region.

 

Qatar, already the first Arab nation to help enforce the United Nations’ sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya, has agreed to market crude from east Libyan fields that are no longer under control of Gaddafi’s government.

 

Libya annually produces about 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), representing nearly 2% of the world output. Most of its oil is in the east, now largely controlled by rebels. Production in that part of the country is currently 100,000 to 130,000 bpd, which could be increased to 300,000 bpd, says one opposition official, Ali Tarhouni.

 

The rebels also control all five oil export terminals in the eastern part of the country and the millions of barrels of oil that are stored there. One oil port, Tobruk, alone could earn the rebels up to $200 million if they sold the stored oil, although part of the money would go to the Western companies that co-own the leases. A rebel-owned oil company, Agoco, based in Tobruk, operates a refinery and oil terminal and employs local workers.

 

While rebels attempt to push Gaddafi’s forces west, opposition representatives have been meeting in Benghazi to form a government-in-waiting. Currently, the Provisional Transitional National Council, a group of 31 members representing the country’s major cities and towns, has served as the official voice of the movement seeking to remove Gaddafi from power.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Rebels Say Qatar Ready to Market East Libyan Oil (by Alexander Dziadosz, Reuters)

As Fighters Push on, Libya Opposition Prepares for Power (Agence France-Presse)

Libyan Rebels Aim to Revive Oil Exports (by Clifford Krauss, New York Times)