According to a recent report by Bloomberg, Libya’s largest refinery – Ras Lanuf, has been shut down due to the fights between the rebels and Qaddafi’s army. Currently there were no reports of any damage, however if there will be it could have a long term adverse effect on the oil production of Libya.
Today during the fighting there were reports of nearly 40 people to have died in Libya.
Libya, a member in OPEC and holds the largest oil reserves in Africa with 44 billion barrels as of January 2010, is a major exporter of oil mainly to countries in Europe such as Italy, Germany and France.
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For more on this subject:
Libya’s Waha Oil production cut sharply on unrest
Asia Confronts Oil-Price Shock as Central Banks Pressured to Raise Rates
Weekly outlook for Crude oil, Natural gas and Gold 7-11 March
Oil prices rise as Libyan turmoil progress – Weekly recap 28 Feb 4 Mar