Libya: Russian Oil Company resumes activity but security still to be consolidated

Tatneft, a Russian oil company, has agreed to begin its operations again in Libya after the circumstances of the uprising against Ghadaffi no longer permitted its staff to continue with their daily activities at the Mellitah energy complex.
The company said that its staff members have begun returning to the plant which is located in the western part of the country. The conditions of their return are believed to have been discussed in negotiations which stretched over a period of four months ago between representatives of the Libyan National Oil Corporation and Tatneft.
Taftnet is Russia’s sixth-largest oil company. It is also the first Russian company to enter the Libyan oil market in 2006 when it secured acreage during an international auction. Since then, it is reported that the Russian company has invested more than a quarter of a billion dollars in its operations in the North African country.
Libya is still struggling to maintain its output due to the frequent labor strikes and gunfights at oil plants and fields. Stability in the country still seems to be set on a fragile foundation.
The Russian government won’t like to see the situation degenerate. It said it lost billions of dollars as a result of the UN-led intervention in Libya that in late 2011 ousted from power after more than four decades, the former Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi who was killed in late 2011.
Although details concerning the commencement of Tatneft’s operations in Libya have not been made public, analysts believe that assuring the security of the company’s personnel will be high on the agenda.  At the beginning of the month, the Mellitah energy complex operated by Tatneft had to be shut down briefly following clashes between security forces and militants.