Libya’s deputy oil minister says that protests by security guards have knocked the country’s oil exports down to five times less than what they were prior to the 2011 war that toppled longtime dictator Muamar Qadhafi.
Omar el-Shakmak told reporters late Tuesday that Libya is currently exporting between 300 and 320 thousand barrels of oil per day, down half of what it was last week and five times less than the 1.6 million it was exporting before the war.
Protests by guards at refineries and ports, as well as gunmen demanding money, have also hurt Libya’s oil exports and shut down ports in the east.
