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The identity of the new chairman was not disclosed, Dow Jones reports, although it did quote Deputy Oil and Finance Minister Omar Shakmak confirming that an appointment had been passed onto the Transitional National Council (TNC) for ratification, adding that, "there was some disturbance over management" at Waha Oil Co.
Workers at Waha Oil have been striking for an extended period of time to force the removal of current chairman Bashir Elashahab, who they allege had very close ties to the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi.
A dismissal of Elashahab was attempted last month by Finance and Oil Minister Ali Tarhouni—then widely seen as a strong contender for the post of prime minister—although it was blocked by the TNC. It is still unclear whether the measure was blocked because of TNC factionalism and opposition to Tarhouni and his nominee, or because there was support among the TNC members for Elashahab's continued tenure.
Continued return to oil production in Libya
Resolving the worker deadlock at Waha Oil is imperative for the continued return of oil production and export capacity in Libya, which on the whole has made very progress since the rebel breakthrough in mid-August. Waha Oil produced over 350,000 b/d of Libya's total 1.6 million b/d of oil production before the outbreak of violence and the JV's main oilfields have the capacity to produce significantly more should the hoped-for future enhanced oil recovery (EOR) investment programme at the mature reservoirs materialise.
Moreover, Waha Oil's infrastructure is strategically located in Libya's mainstay Sirte Basin, with its pipeline network serving as a hub for production from a host of other key Libyan oilfields, and it port, Es Sider, before the uprising constituting the single largest oil export hub in the country. Es Sider is also the export terminal that seems to have sustained the most damage from fighting on its export facilities and although some repairs seem to be under way, it is not entirely clear whether these can fully proceed while most Waha Oil workers are on strike.
Apart from setting the example for other Libyan oil workers—who now are performing the major task of bringing as much production capacity back onstream as they can amid the continued absence of the large number of foreign workers on which the country heavily relies—that they can pressure the interim government to change senior management, the strike is also having a wider impact on recovery at connected oilfields elsewhere in the prolific Sirte Basin.
Inequality in pay in the sector may be an issue
Libyan nationals working in the country's oil industry were notoriously underpaid as part of the former regime's economic policies, which means that as so much responsibility is now being placed on them in the absence of foreign workers, economic demand-driven strikes might well be ticking time bombs. So far, these demands have been countered by spot bonuses handed out by the TNC in the aftermath of most of Libya being freed from the former regime, although inequalities in pay between national and foreign workers are unlikely to be tolerated for much longer.
Elsewhere, initial quick progress in bringing oil production capacity back onstream seems to be continuing, with Abdulmajid Shah, the chairman of Akakus Oil Operations, a JV between the NOC and Repsol, telling Dow Jones that the large el-Sharara field in Libya's south-west could reach its pre-war 340,000-b/d production next month.
Staff
