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Eni says has cut expat workers in Libya, production continues
The main gate of the Mellitah Oil and Gas complex co-owned by Italy's ENI is seen, 100 km (60 miles) west of Tripoli, November 7, 2013. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny
17/02/2015
MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Eni said on Tuesday it had reduced the number of expatriates working in Libya but was continuing to produce oil and gas in a regular way in the country.
In a comment emailed to Reuters, an Eni spokesman said its expatriates and local workers in Libya were enough to guarantee normal production activities in the country.
"The presence of Eni expatriates in Libya is reduced and limited to certain offshore facilities," the spokesman said.
Nearly four years after the civil war that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, conflict-torn Libya is now effectively split, with two rival governments operating their own armed forces under separate parliaments.
Italy, which has traditionally had close ties with the oil producing country, closed its embassy in Tripoli on Sunday and called for U.N. action to calm the worsening conflict there, although Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has held back from seeking military action.
On Tuesday, his office called for "strong diplomatic action within the framework of the U.N." for peace and stability in Libya.
State-controlled Eni, the biggest foreign oil producer in terms of volumes in Libya, was producing around 280,000 barrels of oil per day before the ouster of Gaddafi.
Escalating violence has had serious repercussions on Libya's oil production and on Saturday the country's National Oil Corporation urgently called for more official protection for its installations.
(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Valentina Za and Mark Potter)
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