The Libyan government is confident it can regain control of the countries eastern ports in a matter of days, according to Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.
Zeidan did not specify whether the ports would be taken back through force or whether the Libyan government would rely on diplomacy to clear the protestors who currently occupy them.
“In the next days we’re about to clear the ports of the protesters unless they leave them,” Zeidan told news agency Reuters.
Zeidan is hopeful that discussions with the countries tribal leaders will bear fruit in the coming days, avoiding the need for military intervention.
Since July 2013, ports in the east of Libya have been occupied by armed protestors. These ports provide crucial revenue to the Libyan economy and are responsible for the export of up to 600,000 barrels of oil per day.
This loss of revenue is having a dramatic effect on the Libyan economy with the government warning that it will be unable to pay public sectors salaries if the eastern ports continue to be blocked.
Libya’s dramatic fall in exports since July 2013 has meant that other oil producing countries in the region have been having to exceed their own production targets in order to make up the short fall in Crude.
Libya hopes that removing the protestors will be the first step in re-securing its position in the oil & gas market.
