Pipeline fire disrupts crude flows to Libyan port

Crude supplies to Libya's Es Sider export terminal have been disrupted by a fire along a pipeline connecting the port's storage tanks with oil fields, traders and shipping agents told Argus.

The fire, which operator Waha Oil said was extinguished today, affected a pipeline 30km south of Es Sider's crude oil storage facilities. The Es Sider terminal is located in the country's east and is connected to the Sirte basin, Libya's oil heartland.

Any reduction in crude exports from Es Sider will depend on the severity of the damage. Waha Oil produced 261,000 b/d of crude on 12 August and 271,000 b/d flowed through its pipeline system to the terminal, according to an operational report seen by Argus.

One source told Argus that crude flows to the terminal have fallen to around 125,000 b/d, while two others said Waha Oil had been forced to reduce production by 100,000 b/d.

The terminal exports Waha Oil's medium sweet Es Sider grade. Loadings in the three months to July averaged 292,000 b/d, according to Kpler data. Waha Oil was scheduled to export 15 cargoes totalling 9.4mn bl this month, according to loading schedules. Six tankers have loaded Es Sider crude from the port so far this month. The last one to do so was the TotalEnergies chartered Pacific Pearl, which is currently just off the terminal. The next tanker due to load at Es Sider is the BP-chartered T.Kurucesme, which was set to arrive on 14 August.

Crude stocks at the terminal stood at 1.76mn bl as of 12 August, the operational report said. Waha Oil, which is a consortium of TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips and state-owned NOC, recently said it boosted production capacity to 322,000 b/d. It produced 280,000 b/d last year.

The disruption to operations at Es Sider comes after the country's largest oil field, El Sharara, was forcibly shut down earlier this month. This has led to the shut-in of around 250,000 b/d of production and has prompted NOC to declare force majeure on crude exports from the Zawia terminal.

Opec member Libya typically produces around 1.2mn-1.25mn b/d of crude, but its output has been frequently impacted by political unrest and decrepit infrastructure over the past decade.

By Aydin Calik, Lina Bulyk, Kuganiga Kuganeswaran and Matthew Mitchell