A file photo taken on January 08, 2016 shows smoke billowing from a petroleum storage tank after a fire was extinguished at Al-Sidra oil terminal, near Ras Lanuf in the so-called "oil crescent" along Libya's northern coast. AFP
BENGHAZI, Libya: An oil storage tank at the Ras Lanuf port in Libya was ablaze on Sunday amid fighting between rival factions for control of the terminals in Libya's oil crescent, a firefighting official said.
Ras Lanuf's storage tank No. 2 held 200,000 barrels of crude at the time, the official said. Another Ras Lanuf tank, No. 12, had already been set alight and damaged on Thursday, when armed groups stormed Ras Lanuf and the neighbouring terminal of Es Sider.
Groups opposed to Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which has held ports in the oil crescent since 2016, mounted Thursday's attack. It led the National Oil Corporation (NOC) to shut the terminals and evacuate them, declaring force majeure on exports.
The NOC said the immediate production loss was 240,000 barrels per day, which was expected to rise to 400,000 bpd if the ports stayed shut.
The fire fighting official said tank No. 2 might had been hit by a shell during fighting.
Tank No. 12 held 240,000 barrels of oil and firefighting crews were running out of foam to extinguish the blazes, he said.
LNA sources have said they are preparing a counter-offensive, and there have been daily air strikes in the area since Thursday.
On Saturday the NOC called on Ibrahim Jathran, the leader of an armed group who announced Thursday's attack, to immediately withdraw from the ports, warning of further damage to key infrastructure.
Jathran had previously controlled and blockaded the ports, before losing them to the LNA. He has said he wants to overturn the "injustice" exacted by the LNA on residents of the oil crescent over the past two years.
He issued a video statement on Sunday saying he would deliver the ports to the control of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which Haftar opposes, and to the NOC.
However, the head of the GNA has condemned Thursday's attack and disassociated the GNA from it, while the NOC has castigated Jathran for his previous blockades, which it said lost Libya tens of billions of dollars in export revenues.
Jathran said his forces were holding 20 prisoners that they planned to hand over to the Red Crescent, and called for the formation of a committee of tribes from eastern and western Libya to mediate an end to the fighting.
The LNA has accused the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB), a group of anti-Haftar combatants that has previously tried to take the oil crescent and advance on Benghazi, of participating in Thursday's attack.
Haftar took full control of Benghazi late last year, after a three year military campaign named "Operation Dignity" against Islamists and other opponents.
(Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Larry King and Ros Russell)
