"Pray For Us": Libya Issues "Cry For Help" As ISIS Advances On Oil Fields
“We are helpless and not being able to do anything against this deliberate destruction to the oil installations. NOC urges all faithful and honorable people of this homeland to hurry to rescue what is left from our resources before it is too late.”
That’s from Libya’s National Oil Corp and as you might have guessed, it references the seizure of state oil assets by Islamic State, whose influence in the country has grown over the past year amid the power vacuum the West created by engineering the demise of Moammar Qaddafi.
The latest attacks occurred in Es Sider, a large oil port that’s been closed for at least a year.
Seven guards were killed on Monday in suicide bombings while two more lost their lives on Tuesday as ISIS attacked checkpoints some 20 miles from the port. "Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, Libya's biggest oil ports, have been closed since December 2014," Reuters notes. "They are located between the city of Sirte, which is controlled by Islamic State, and the eastern city of Benghazi."
ISIS also set fire to oil tanks holding hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude. "Four tanks in Es Sider caught fire on Tuesday, and a fifth one in Ras Lanuf the day before," Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the the Petroleum Facilities Guard told Bloomberg over the phone.
(a fire at Ras Lanuf)
(a smoking storage tank in Es Sider)
Ludovico Carlino, senior analyst at IHS Country Risk says the attacks are “likely diversionary operations” during Islamic State’s takeover of the town of Bin Jawad, a seizure that may enable the group to expand and connect “its controlled territory around Sirte to the ‘oil crescent.’”
Islamic State is pushing east from Sirte in an effort to seize control of the country's oil infrastructure, much as the group has done in Syria and Iraq. As Middle East Eye wrote last summer, "the desert region to the south of the oil ports has been strategically cleared in a series of attacks by IS militants on security personnel and oil fields, where employees have been killed and kidnapped, and vehicles and equipment seized."
“I expect they will try and take Sidra and Ras Lanuf and the oil fields on the west side of the oil crescent,” one oil worker said. “There are few people left to protect the oil fields apart from local security from isolated towns.”
Efforts to protect Libya's oil are complicated immeasurably by the fractious (and that's putting it nicely) political environment.
In short: the country is a modern day Wild West and a strong central government is now a distant memory. This makes administering the country's resources nearly impossible. Oil production is now just a quarter of what it was under Qaddafi. Essentially, both of Libya's two governments have what they call a National Oil Corp. The eastern NOC is run by the exiled government in Tobruk (which is internationally recognized), where the House of Representatives was exiled in 2014 after elections produced an outcome that wasn't agreeable to Islamist elements in Tripoli.
Unfortunately, large foreign oil companies won't work with Tobruk's NOC which sets up the following ridiculous scenario: the internationally recognized government in Tobruk has an NOC no one wants to work with, while Tripoli's NOC (which foreign oil companies will do business with) is run by a government that the world doesn't deem legitimate.
To top it all off, there's every reason to believe that neither Tobruk nor Tripoli actually control the country's oil. Here's Foreign Policy:
On the ground, the conflict involves far more than just the two bickering governments. Libya is composed of dozens of tribes, each with its own shifting interests and allegiances. “There’s a question about the extent to which the political forces actually have control over the important militias on the ground,” said Chivvis. “I think all this comes down to who controls the oil; it comes down to alliances on the ground. Which political forces control which sites within Libya.”
Ibrahim Jadhran is a perfect — and crucial — example. The 35-year-old was a militia leader during the 2011 revolution, and was appointed commander of the Petroleum Defense Guards by the still-unified transitional government in 2012. Originally from the eastern city of Ajdabiya, the rogue militia leader is an outspoken advocate of a federal system for Libya and frequently uses his power to open or close oil ports, shutting off oil exports — and therefore salaries — when he disagrees with either government.
“One of the initial causes for the plummeting of Libyan oil production was the blockade imposed by Ibrahim Jadhran in August of 2013,” said Porter. The commander has continued the tactic of stoppages in defiance of both regimes, even trying to steal a tanker full of crude to sell on the black market. The ship was finally stopped by the U.S. Navy off the coast of Cyprus.
Jadhran’s power is not to be underestimated. In fact, according to local media reports, it was actually him, and not the Tobruk government, that closed the Zuetina port. As Porter points out, it is Jadhran — not Tripoli or Tobruk — who truly controls exports.
Got that? There are two governments and two NOCs, but that doesn't really matter because the whole show is run by a militia leader. “Jadhran is a mystery even to us. We have not yet understood what he really is, apart from an oil thief,” Misrata Military Council head Ibrahim Beitemal told Middle East Eye last year.
Ali al-Hassi (quoted above) is a spokesperson for Jadhran's forces.
Islamic State then, is apparently at war with Jadhran which is interesting for a number of reasons.
First, Jadhran's brother is in ISIS. "ISIS' Libya branch released an online statement earlier in the week claiming to have taken control of the coastal city of Bin Jawed, about 120 miles east of Sirte," CBS reported on Monday. "Bin Jawed is the last city before the oil town of Sidra and the huge oil port of Ras Lanouf, both currently witnessing fierce clashes between ISIS and al-Jadhran's men." And more: "ISIS fighters were reportedly attacking Siddra from three directions, aided by al-Jadhran's own brother, who apparently joined the ISIS camp."
Additionally, some say Jadhran once tried to broker a deal with the group and it's not entirely clear what, if any, relationship he has with the militants. “We have been told that Jadhran proposed some reinforcements to ISIS but on the condition that he kept control of the oil ports and fields, but this was rejected," a source told Middle East Eye.
So Libya's vast oil wealth is effectively up for grabs and the person guarding it has a brother who not only joined ISIS, but is actually participating in the battle for key ports and facilities. Now, Britain is apparently on the verge of sending in thousands of troops to halt the ISIS advance in yet another example of the West engineering regime change only to go back in later in a futile attempt to clean up the mess."Crack SAS troops are in Libya preparing for the arrival of around 1,000 British infantrymen to be sent against ISIS there in early 2016," The Mirror reports. "The operation will involve around 6,000 American and European soldiers and marines - led by Italian forces and supported mainly by Britain and France."
Of course that wouldn't be necessary if the West hadn't thrown out the government in Tripoli back in 2011. Now, the stepped up ISIS attacks threaten to derail the formation of a unitary governing body.
"In December, representatives of Libya’s two rival powers signed a United Nations-brokered power-sharing pact that called for the formation of a national unity government by mid-January," WSJ notes, adding that the violence could "undermine the financial viability of a peace agreement by destroying the country’s main source of revenue."
“I urge the swift formation of a national unity government and the establishment of a unified force structure capable of bringing peace to this country and protecting its natural resources,” Mustafa Sanallah, chairman of National Oil Co., said, in a statement posted on the company’s website on Wednesday.
Now that Russia has begun to dismantle Islamic State's oil operation in Syria and now that the link with the Turks has been revealed, it might very well be that ISIS is turning to Libya as an alternative source of financing. Taking control of the country's oil crescent would be a good start.
Will the country's rival governments unite in time to stop the assault? Will Jadhran resort to some manner of negotiated settlement with ISIS if it means retaining his influence over Libya's oil riches? How will ISIS get its captured crude to market without a cross-border state sponsor?
All good questions that will be answered soon enough. For now, we close with one final quote from Jadhran's spokesperson:
"Pray for us."
* * *
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If you think anybody "elected" from within the system is going to keep the pending disaster from unfolding completely, you are delusional IMHO.
They know they are, they feed off of the shit they read here and abroad...Odope didn't mention Chicago shootings last night for nothing.
And he will.... follow orders. Or get shot. There isn't an option 3.
More global chaos, courtesy of the USSA. Because we are exceptional...
Exceptional at running away and hiding from Russian bombers -That is!!!!
Do you really think the US ISrael and the rest of the empire is really that stupid and incompetent.
At first I thought so too. Now I'm beginning to see that creating the chaos is exactly what they want, and they return not to clean up the mess, but to seize control of the important resources.
ISIS is clearly the proxy army here doing the hands on cannon fodder work, once the coast is clear, "crack" forces can go in secure and guard the infrastructure, so the valuable commodities can be pilfered safely.
Libya: "Pray for us ! ISIS is coming !!!"
Soon to be President Hitlery: "WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE ??"
Good thing we brought freedumb and stabiliteeeeey to another country.
And centraol banking--remember when in the very early days of the "revolution," the mercenaries formed a central bank? Who ever heard of such a thing? I don't supposed that central bank immediately removed all of Libya's gold? Naaaaahh.
That darn ISIS, they must be led by the ghost of Alexander the Great.
JV ... strictly JV
Or getting orders through the back door by Reggie Love.
A real shame.
Take a close look America, this is your future.
Karma, blowback, whatever you call it,it does happen.
Honeypot trap for Russia. Don't take the bait, Vlad.
Do you believe this shit?
The more it goes on the more it starts to sound like UKnowWho is the Anti-Christ and this is the Opening of the 7th Seal ... and I don't mean that in any religious sense. Practical. Mere practical observation. As if I were a little green man from Mars come down for the day and looked around.
Doesn't seem man is long for this world. Or 'sumptin' like dat
Choppy, choppy!
Soon you'lll hear:
Guillotine (sound)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTrES7p5O0
They didn't use a real head.
The words "What does it matter!" come to mind.
Let's send Hillary and Bill to fix everything. Huma can accompany them, along with hubby Carlos Danger.
Interesting. Lybia oil is in trouble, main pipeine from Iraqi Kuridstan was today hit and break, oil inventories huge draw but must be that destilaltion invenotories which lead 5-6% drop in oil price. No, there is not manipulation.
"ISIS also set fire to oil tanks holding hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude."
Obama can tolerate many things but deliberate attempts to hijack the enviroment by causing global warming will not be accepted.
This means war.
With Russia taking out the oil train around Iraq and Syria ISIS needed to move elsewhere to capture their oil money for Ankara.
It's now obvious which of those characters really eats babies and fucks goats.
Who stole the drapes...oh nevermind.
I always thought Gaddaffi was a pretty snappy dresser!
hedgeless ? The proper word is murdered.
I can't add photos here ...
But if you add the photos of Q-daffy and Sarko, Q-daffy and Blair, all available on the Net; you re-create the Bermuda triangle of Libyan implosion.
The story of "Arab Spring" gone "re-engineered".
"Of course that wouldn't be necessary if the West hadn't thrown out the government in Tripoli back in 2011. Now, the stepped up ISIS attacks threaten to derail the formation of a unitary governing body."
At some point in time more people are going to have to stop pretending that ISIS isn't a western asset.
Who is responsible for this? (Hillary Clinton, in part)
In LARGE part. The unconstitutional attack on Libya has long been known as "Hillary's War". (Of course, Syria is her second war, and she has her hands bloody with Ukraine as well).
Russia should bomb the empty tankers entering Libyan ports. No oil spill and no oil money for ISIS, let them have the burning fires because those Wells will be useless if they can't profit from them.
So this is where they intend to make their money now that Turky is so publically known about.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/pentagon-isis-has-almost-same-nu...
A few months ago I said I think we are being fed a continuous crock of shit. The number of strikes and kill counts don't make any sense. Flashbacks of Vietnam.
They have an agenda which hasn't been met yet so they still have to spend your hard earnt dollars on it while telling you they're not
"Pray for us"... fuck you. Reap what you sow. I'm still praying for Qaddafi and against the cackling cunt clinton who caused his murder.
Man. If only they had a strong leader.
Pray? Well that's easy.
It is all part of the Hitllery/US gov/Zionazi/neocon nihilist plan, divide and conquer at any cost. Perpetual war is profitable, it keeps the empire alive and the American people love believing the lies. I heard interviews from average Libyans and they all said it was better under Muammar Gaddafi and I am sure it was.
Muammar's dead because he wanted gold for currency and now the isis netenyahu, saudi, turkish, kahzarian mob will rape whats left.
I know who to blame this on... fuckkkers
So when is Iran going in, they can take this place over.
The headline must surely be quoting
Saddam, err Gaddaffi "dead-enders" who don't appreciate the blessings
of "freedom" brought courteous of the US and its NATO gang.
Sorry, we have no further interest in a country which has a central bank and no more gold.
Doesn't seem that anything resembling the German economic miracle after WWII is in the tea leaves - ah, our wonderful State Dept. and its long string of unparalleled success stories....; I'm almost certain John Kerry is planning a Tour de Libya bike race to celebrate this monumental achievement!...
First comes NATO bombers.
Then Comes ISIS.
Where? Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya.
The West runs ISIS's Air Force for them, opening the invasion routes by destroying local resistance or army forces. Russia stepped in and cut short the NATO/ISIS alliance in Syria.
The Squid won't stop until they're dead or we're dead, you know that Jack.
Please...
US gets "jihadi John"
Putin gets ?
US gets three senior ISIS members.
Putin gets?
The world laughs at Putins "ISIS efforts". complete bullshit. The Russians haven't got a damned ISIS thing yet.
Russia never said they were after ISIS, that's US propaganda, but were there to help the Syrian government and military. ISIS is just a sideshow and part of the mix. So the US got 3 clowns and a headchopper and the Russians got hundreds of oil tankers, which the US refused to bomb until goadded by the Russians, and blew up training camps, ammunition dumps, and supply convoys the US has ignored. With Russian airpower working with the army the Syrians are retaking ground and cities. The empty wastes of the Syrian desert are pockmarked by bomb explosions so the US can claim returning planes, by their lack of bombs, were bombing ISIS. In many instances ISIS had miles long convoys of US supplied Toyota trucks that drove unmolested through desert in daylight "controlled" by US airpower. The priority of the US is to contain and manipulate ISIS and all the other rebel groups for it's own regime change and ME theatre goals while Russia is there to win and sets it's priorities accordingly. Most if not all of Obama's speeches he talks of containing ISIS not destroying them.
In Iraq the US in it's support of the Iraqi army is doing the same half ass job they are doing in Syria as they do not want to destroy ISIS. The Iraqi's are pissed and are looking to Russia to replace US support. Iraq has refused US helicopters and has refused to let any more US troops into the country. The majority of the public and many senior Iraqi officials claim the US and Britiain were intentionally air dropping arms to ISIS and claim to have shot down US and British planes and choppers doing it. In spite of this the Iraqi's are gaining ground and cities.
Well, we sure know who they'd ask help from last.
Hillary Clinton's Greatest success? Clearing the way for ISIS to invade and conquer Libya, and using Libya arms to arm the ISIS in Syria. Where today, Bulgaria has stated an emergency air lift of Soviet era weapons to ISIS in Turkey and Syria. These Soviet weapons may be old, but function in perfect order, just as they were designed to. Especially the Anti Tan Guided Missiles. Bulgaria is launching an emergency airlift of 7,000 ATGM to ISIS, at the request of NATO.
Hi Jack! Where is "no more get off me" when you need him? "Sad man insane?" "Yasser I'm a fart?" All my heros are gone.
Bulgarians are the most two faced assholes I have ever met. Request of NATO? Gladio 2 3?
well played Pax Americana : you promised them Disneyland after Q-Daffy's demise.
And they get : ISIS !
Wow, just wow !
From Charybdis to Scylla!
The Pax Americana way.