Libya’s NOC says all fires at Zawiya oil complex brought under control

Libya’s National Oil Corporation said on Tuesday that emergency and safety teams had brought under control all fires that broke out at several fuel storage tanks in the Zawiya oil complex after attacks by explosive-laden drones in the past few days.

On Monday night, a large gasoline reservoir in Zawiya caught fire and collapsed after it was “struck by a drone while another drone fell near a second tank without causing casualties,” Hamdi al-Bishti, head of the Brega Oil Company which runs the refinery, told AFP.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the tank contained about 4.5 million liters of gasoline and declared a state of emergency Monday night.

Authorities have yet to identify the perpetrators, days after similar drone attacks targeted a naphtha reservoir and a water desalination plant over the weekend.

Libya has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa but has been beset by violence and instability since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.