TRIPOLI: Libyan officials say oil exports have plunged to less than 10 percent of their pre-war levels, falling to just 150,000 barrels per day.
The drop has been blamed on protests by oil facility guards who word for the Defense Ministry.
Libya was exporting 1.6 million barrels before the 2011 war that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
An official at Libya’s National Oil Corporation said exports were at 150,000 barrels per day on Saturday.
The corporation’s website said this week that losses from recent strikes and protests had reached more than $5 billion.
Prime Minister Ali Zidan is facing calls for his ouster by the country’s Islamists and residents fed-up with the government’s inability to provide stability.
The capital is facing water and electricity shortages.
Libya’s oil exports plunge as problems escalate
Updated 09 September 2013
Libya’s oil exports plunge as problems escalate
