After a quiet overnight session, the price of Brent Crude spiked following news of an explosion at a Libyan crude oil pipeline that feeds the Es Sider sea terminal - home of the largest oil depot in Libya - a source from the Libyan National Army told The Libya Times Tuesday. The blast happened near 30km northwest of Marada, the source said.
#Breaking: #LNA sources accuse islamist militants from ‘the #Benghazi Defense Brigades’ of blast targeting the main pipeline linking the Sidrah terminal and #oil fields belonging to al-Waha company. The attack took place about 30km northwest of Maradah. #Libya pic.twitter.com/DjDqj0qQHk
— The Libya Times (@thelibyatimes) December 26, 2017
At the same time, the source accused militants from the Benghazi Defense Brigades of the blast. While the reasons for the explosions haven't been determined yet, media reports are suggesting that it was possibly a terrorist attack.
Another photo showing smoke billowing from the targeted pipeline (see previous tweet): #Libya, #oilhttps://t.co/v0oldgVOq0 pic.twitter.com/F8H8jCJXTH
— The Libya Times (@thelibyatimes) December 26, 2017
Meanwhile, the Akhbar Libya news outlet reported that the gas pipeline belonged to the al-Waha oil company. The group's press service claimed that the explosion could have been caused by a terrorist attack, adding that the communication with an engineering crew working on the scene had been lost.
The media outlet added that the group had sent its forces to the explosion site, located between Es Sider port and an oil field.
While there is still no official update on what impact the explosion could have on Libyan oil output, Brent is higher about 40 cents on the news...
... with Bloomberg reporting that Libya's Waha output is said to drop 60-70kbpd after the explosion.