Continuing clashes between the Libyan National Army and rival militant groups have cut Libya’s oil production by 240,000 bpd, prompting the shutdown of Libya’s two biggest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. Reuters quotes sources from the military as saying the LNA had pulled out of both ports, which is bad news for the security of exports. The National Oil Corporation has evacuated its personnel from the ports and has said that the production loss could reach 400,000 bpd if the ports remained shut down. In May, Ras Lanuf exported 110,000 bpd on average, with shipments leaving from Es Sider at 300,000 bpd. Oil fields have not yet been affected, but the closure of the two ports is enough to wreak havoc on Libya’s oil industry. While military sources have said the clashes were between the LNA and the Benghazi Defense Brigades—an Islamist group that the LNA drove […]