Oil exports slashed by half in Libya ahead of the summit in Germany

• Eastern Libya ports stop oil exports risking Libya’s livelihood.
• The Berlin summit hopes to persuade commander Haftar to stop his quest to seize the capital, Tripoli.

A report by Reuters indicates that Eastern Libya ports, currently under the control of commander Khalif Haftar are stopping oil exports from the region. Haftar is working on seizing the capital city of Libya, Tripoli. The move has brought down Libya's national crude output to half the usual amount.

The decision to stop the exports comes just before a summit scheduled to held in Berlin, Germany. The United Nations in conjunction with Germany hope to convince Haftar to abandon his nine-month quest of seizing Tripoli.

Prior to the closure, Libya's daily oil output was 1.3 million barrels. Tribesmen allied to Haftar say that the Tripoli government has been using revenues from the oil exports to pay for foreign fighters’ services.

The Berlin summit

The closure of the ports in Eastern Libya is a step backward for the summit being held in Berlin. Both Haftar and Fayez al-Serraj the leader of Tripoli, are expected at the Summit. Subsequent summits have failed to yield any results leaving Libya in the turmoil that has lasted since 2011 when Muammar Gaddafi died.