A succession of drones has targeted energy infrastructure around Zawiya, approximately 40 km west of Tripoli, hitting the refinery complex, fuel storage facilities and the city’s power infrastructure since the weekend.   NOC has warned that continued attacks could force a complete halt at the 120,000 barrels per day Zawiya refinery and trigger a force majeure declaration. The facility is Libya’s largest operating refinery and is connected to the giant 300,000 barrels per day Sharara oilfield.   The escalation began with a drone crashing into an untreated naphtha tank on Saturday, causing a leak that workers managed to contain. A subsequent attack struck a gasoline storage tank holding around 4.5m litres of fuel, igniting a huge blaze and eventually causing the tank to collapse.

Further drones followed. NOC reported another strike near an oil tank and pipeline network used by a blending and filling facility, while additional attacks on Tuesday hit the city’s power plant and refinery area. The company declared a state of maximum emergency as firefighters battled the resulting blazes. By late Tuesday the fires had been extinguished. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Zawiya matters well beyond Libya’s domestic fuel supply. The complex includes a refinery and export terminal and sits at the end of infrastructure serving the country’s prolific western oilfields, making any sustained disruption a potential problem for Mediterranean crude and product trades.   For the moment refinery operations have continued, but NOC’s force majeure warning represents a significant escalation.

Libya’s oil industry has endured years of blockades, militia disputes and politically driven shutdowns. The appearance of repeated drone attacks adds another risk to an export system that has rarely enjoyed prolonged stability.