Libya's National oil company has revealed plans to restart oil shipments from terminals seized by forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar 5PHOTO0 during the weekend.The terminals; Es-Sidra, Zueitina, Ras Lanuf and Brega account for more than half of Libya's exports.

According to the Chairman of NOC, Mustafa Sanallah, work will commence immediately to restart exports and all the exports must be within the U.N. resolution.He added that the country can now raise production to 600,000 barrels a day within four weeks from the current 290,000 barrels a day, if the necessary funds were available from the central government.

“Our technical teams already started assessing what needs to be done to lift force majeure and restart exports as soon as possible. I hope this marks the beginning of a new phase of cooperation and coexistence between Libya's factions, as well as an end to the use of the blockade as a political tactic,” Sanalla said in a statement.

A commander now in charge of one of the ports, Muftah al-Muqarief, has said that he could place the terminals under Tripoli's control if Haftar gave such orders.

Haftar has been against a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. The United States and five European powers on Monday condemned his move on the oil ports, saying they would impose a U.N. Security Council resolution against unlawful exports outside the authority of UN-backed government, Nasdaq news reports.

Anita Fatunji