Libya’s dangerous oil deal

The UN-brokered ports deal with Jadhran cannot, on its own, increase the country’s oil output. But it may worsen the conflict

MORE bearish news for oil prices seems to be coming from Libya, where a deal to reopen the country's main oil-export terminals is in place. State firm National Oil Company (NOC) talks of increasing output from around 200,000 barrels a day now to 0.9m b/d by the end of the year. It would stall any oil-market recovery. US air strikes on 1 August targeting Islamic State (IS) in Sirte should also help diminish the terror group's threat to energy installations in Libya's central oil crescent. Repeated IS attacks in the past year led NOC to impose force majeure on fields. The US involvement - at the behest of the Government of National Accord (GNA) - in tandem with the ports deal, suggests an outp