BLBG:Crude-Oil Tanker Sailing for Libyan Coast as First Western Cargo Offered
An oil tanker is sailing to the Libyan port of Mellitah, a sign the nation may be resuming crude exports after months of fighting that led to the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The Newlead Avra, capable of carrying about 540,000 barrels, last signaled earlier today about 30 miles from the Libyan coast, the data show. The 229-meter (750-foot) vessel is 7.9 meters deep in the water, compared with a maximum draft of 14.45 meters when fully loaded.
An 80,000 metric-ton cargo of crude was being offered for shipment from the port last week, three people with direct knowledge of the transaction said Sept. 8. Exports from the country, holder of Africa’s biggest oil reserves, plunged during a conflict that escalated in February and led to leader Qaddafi being deposed.
The oil, equal to about 600,000 barrels, will be loaded from Sept. 15 to 17, the people said, declining to be identified because the consignment wasn’t publicly announced. The loading is likely the first from the nation’s west since March, said Thomas Zwick, an Oslo-based analyst at Lorentzen & Stemoco AS, a consultant to the shipping industry.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at anightingal1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net
