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Zawiya power hit
A drone struck a power station in Libya’s western city of Zawiya, near the country’s largest operational oil refinery, prompting the government to consider a shutdown.
“A drone has struck a power station in Libya’s western city of Zawiya”
Al-Arabiya reported that Libya declared control of fires at the Zawia refinery and a widespread power outage after an attack on the South Zawia power substation caused a complete power outage in wide areas of the southern part of the city.
Libya’s General Electric Company said the 30/11 kV transmission substation in South Zawia was attacked, leading to its complete destruction and being out of service.
Al-Arabiya added that the attacks and security breaches Zawia city witnessed in recent times directly affected the electricity sector and caused significant damage to several facilities and components of the grid.
The same report said the Libyan National Oil Corporation confirmed emergency and safety teams managed to control all fires that broke out in several fuel tanks at the Zawia oil complex earlier than expected, following drone-attacks carrying explosives.
Officials warn and restore
Al-Arabiya said the Libyan National Oil Corporation warned it may declare a force majeure if drone attacks on energy facilities in the city continue, while also noting that no party had claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.
In a statement posted on X, Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeiba said that targeting oil and industrial facilities with drones is a serious crime and an escalation "that will not pass without a response."
CNN Arabic reported that Libya’s General Electricity Company said early Sunday it was working to restore power in several areas after an explosion near the Zawiya power station on the Mediterranean coast west of Tripoli.
CNN Arabic quoted the company saying that "the operations and control teams are continuing to restore electricity gradually" according to an operational plan to ensure grid stability.
Al Jazeera’s account of the drone strike described the refinery as having been the target of several attacks in recent days, with the government weighing a shutdown as the attacks continued.
Oil supply and force majeure
Al-Sharq al-Mubāgh said the Libyan National Oil Corporation warned of the impact of repeated attacks on fuel supplies and warned of "force majeure" if attacks on refinery facilities continue.
“warned of "force majeure" if attacks on refinery facilities continue”
It reported that a drone attack destroyed a gasoline storage tank at the Zawia refinery in western Libya, and that the targeted tank contained about 4.5 million liters of gasoline for local demand.
Reuters engineers, as cited by Ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ, said the fires did not damage Libya’s largest operating refinery, while Brega Petroleum Marketing Company officials told Reuters that fuel and gasoline supplies have not been affected.
Ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ also said the National Oil Corporation warned it could declare a state of force majeure and halt operations at the Zawiya refinery entirely if drone attacks on oil facilities in the city persist.
Al Jazeera’s report placed the drone strike in Zawiya near the country’s largest operational oil refinery, as repeated attacks on energy infrastructure continued to disrupt operations and raise the prospect of shutdowns.