Oil Workers’ Discontent Is A Risk For Libyan Output Surge

Libya’s oil output is at a five-year high and rare exploration deals with foreign majors are being won but worker dissent and ever-present armed groups risk a repeat of disruptions that have choked off other production surges since the 2011 civil war.

Staff at state oil firm NOC told Reuters that small protests had erupted at nine oil and gas fields and some ports in recent months, mainly among workers left waiting for promised pay rises as inflation and a weak currency erode living standards.

“We are the anonymous soldiers whose rights have been stolen,” said a worker at the al-Intisar oil field, asking not to be named as NOC has banned workers from talking to the media. “We should be the best paid workers in Libya but we suffer from poor accommodation and medical treatment in the fields and delays in salary payments.”