Firefighters Battle Zawiya Refinery Blaze After Drone Attacks

Libyan firefighters were still battling a blaze at the Zawiya refinery complex on Tuesday, following a series of drone attacks that have raised fears of a complete shutdown of the country's largest operating refinery.

Two engineers at the site said the fire, though intense, had not caused any damage to the refinery's core processing units. Three officials at Brega Petroleum Marketing, which manages Libya's fuel supplies, confirmed that fuel and gasoline distribution had not been affected so far.

However, Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) warned it could completely halt operations at Zawiya, which primarily serves the domestic market, after reporting a third drone attack over the weekend and into Monday. The latest strike targeted an oil blending and filling plant operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Company, landing near its main oil tank and pipeline network. No casualties or material damage were reported from that attack.

Earlier on Tuesday, the oil ministry said an attack on the complex had caused a Brega tank containing about 4.5 million litres of gasoline to catch fire and collapse. The ministry added that the drone strikes had also targeted a desalination plant within the complex. An official at Brega said adjacent tanks were emptied to prevent the fire from spreading, while cooling operations were carried out on the remaining tanks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and authorities have not named any suspects. Libya has been divided between rival factions since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi 15 years ago.

The Zawiya refinery, located about 40 km west of Tripoli, has a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and is connected to the 300,000-bpd Sharara oilfield. The area has seen repeated armed clashes that have occasionally forced the refinery to shut down, most recently for several days in May.

Despite holding Africa's largest proven oil reserves, Libya's output has been repeatedly disrupted by years of unrest. The country produced 1.44 million barrels per day in June, its highest level since 2013, but still below the pre-2011 level of 1.6 million bpd. The Ras Lanuf refinery, Libya's largest by capacity, has been idle since 2013.