End of Libyan oil blockade comes with risks

An agreement to resume exports has reassured oil markets. But several hurdles remain, Chris Stephen reports from Tripoli

Libya's rebel oil blockade is not a sophisticated affair. When ethnic Amazigh, or Berber, villagers near the town of Nalut wanted to shut off a major pipeline carrying oil and gas from the Wafa field, 400 miles (643 km) southwest of Tripoli, they simply had to spin a set of hefty steel wheels at the nearby Juwebiya pumping station. The villagers blocking Wafa’s 30,000 barrels a day (b/d) of output took it in turns to guard the site. Some took “selfies” while balancing on the all-important wheels. A year after it began, a deal to end a blockade that has cost Libya $30 billion has been hammered out, but unprecedented levels of fighting leave its completion in the balance. The blockade began in