The National Oil Corp (NOC) of Libya on Thursday, disclosed that a major oil pipeline located south of the Ras Lanuf terminal was hit by an explosion overnight.

According to an NOC spokesman, Mohamed al-Harari, the cause of the explosion was not clear as the pipeline which runs from the Tibisti and Bayda fields had been closed for over two years.

Meanwhile, an official based in eastern Libya, Mohamed al-Manfi, revealed that the explosion was due to vandalism. He said oil workers have been trying to detach the pipeline and subdue the damage caused by the blast.

Libya's oil industry has been hit by numerous attacks by Islamic State militants, strikes as well as protests. The country’s existing production is less than 400,000 barrels per day.

Production in the eastern part of the country has however, been stable. Omran al-Zwei a spokesman of NOC's eastern branch (the Arabian Gulf Oil Co), said it had exported 64 million BO last year.

He told Reuters that 92 tankers had stopped at the Hariga port in the east to transport the oil while an additional 13 million barrels produced by the Arabian Gulf Oil Co, were refined at the Sarir and Hariga refineries as well as the western refinery of Zawiya in Libya for domestic use.

Anita Fatunji