Attack at Libya's Es-Sider threatens oil industry
The attack at Es-Sider has plunged the country's oil industry into its ever-deepening civil war
Black smoke stained the sky and flames leapt 300 feet in the air as fighting left Es-Sider, Libya's largest oil port, ablaze. The fire, in December, was the culmination of a civil war fought for control of the country's oil industry. It may end up destroying it. After six months of fighting, Libya has two governments, each a loose coalition of militias and tribal forces, battling each other along a tangle of front lines. But while the politics of this war are complicated, the objective remains the same - to control the country's oil. Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, an estimated 48 billion barrels of highly prized light, sweet oil. The country derives about 95% of government revenues
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