Libyans Queue for Petrol, State Firm Blames Security Problems

Libya has received three tankers with fuel imports in the past few days but a lack of security at petrol stations has made it hard to get the supplies out, the state oil firm said on Monday.

Libyans have been forced to queue for hours for petrol in the capital Tripoli over the past few days, at times sparking angry exchanges.

Fathi al-Hasmi, spokesman for Brega Petroleum Marketing Company, a state firm in charge of distributing fuel in Libya, said three tankers with imported fuel had docked at the western Zawiya port in the past few days.

"There is no problem with supplies but with security and heavy traffic. Some petrol station owners are worried about a lack of security at their stations as people queue," he said.

It has been a challenge for Libya to keep the 120,000 barrel a day Zawiya refinery supplied after protesters closed the connecting El Sharara field again.

A spokesman for the National Oil Corp said last week it might have to use crude from its two offshore fields, which have been spared by the oil protests.

The North African country's oil production has fallen to less than 200,000 bpd from 1.4 million bpd when the protests started in July.

(Reporting by Feras Bosalum; Writing by Ulf Laessing, editing by David Evans)