A week before the U.S. announced it was ending sanction waivers for all Iranian oil customers, U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone call with Libya’s eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar who is marching on Tripoli against the internationally recognized government of national accord (GNA), causing analysts to ponder the motivation behind such a move. The United States seems to be shifting its position on Libya by backing the eastern general and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), who control the oil export terminals in Libya’s Oil Crescent in the east—a likely byproduct of President Trump’s desire to keep oil and gasoline prices in check at a time when the U.S. is tightening the screws on both Iran and Venezuela, analysts told S&P Global Platts ’ Brian Scheid and Herman Wang last week. Haftar has shown his prowess in keeping Libya’s oil flowing at least to some degree, and stability […]