Demonstrators who have threatened to close down two oil and gas facilities close to the Libyan capital Tripoli have prolonged the deadline by 24 hours, so they can talk with mediators, a spokesman for the group remarked on Friday.
The demonstrators had threatened to close down the facilities, with one group campaigning against corruption issuing a 72-hour ultimatum that terminated on Friday.
The two facilities were the Mellitah complex and the Zawiya refinery respectively.
Mellitah is a joint venture between Libya’s National Oil Corporation, –NOC, and Italy’s Eni.
If the complex is shut down, it would disrupt the supply of gas through the Greenstream pipeline between Libya and Italy.
Salem Mohamed, the spokesman for the protesters, a group named the Corruption Eradication Movement, had said that they determined to extend the deadline to continue negotiations with the six-person mediation team.
It is however, unclear whether the protesters have the strength and culpability to close the two facilities.
Libya’s oil sector, the country’s primary source of income, has been a target for local and broader political protests since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 uprising supported by NATO.
