Libya oil company: Russian mercenaries enter major oilfield

CAIRO (AP) — Russian and other foreign mercenaries have entered Libya’s largest oil field, the country's National Oil Corporation said on Friday, describing the development as an attempt to thwart the resumption of halted oil production in the war-torn country.

In divided Libya, Russia is a leading backer of the east-based forces led by commander Khalifa Hifter, who has been waging war against the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, which is mainly backed by Turkey.

The Russian mercenaries first met late on Thursday with the guards of Libya’s vast southwestern Sharara oilfield, controlled by Hifter's eastern-based fighters, according to a statement from the National Oil Corporation, or NOC.

Earlier this year, a militia known as the Petroleum Facilities Guard, which takes orders from Hifter’s forces, helped shut down oil production when Hifter-allied tribes led a blockade of Libya’s oil ports — a challenge to the Tripoli administration.

While Hifter’s east-based forces control Libya’s oil crescent, the Tripoli government in the west controls the national Central Bank reserves, mostly drawn from oil income. Although Libya has Africa’s largest oil reserves, it has been unable to export oil since Hifter's blockade started in January, costing the state corporation over $6 billion in lost revenue. Libya’s was producing over 1.2 million barrels per day before the shutdown.

“While foreign mercenaries continue to be paid vast sums of money to prevent the NOC from carrying out its essential duties, the rest of the Libyan population suffers,” said Mustafa Sanalla, the corporation’s chairman. He lamented the loss of oil revenues and the “disastrous decay of our oil infrastructure” due to the shutdown, which is preventing maintenance work at facilities.

The Russian mercenaries are...