Oil traders embroiled in Libyan crude dispute

An oil tanker which illegally lifted Libyan crude from the As-Sidrah terminal, currently outside government control, may have been heading for the Gulf with the aim of selling its cargo in Fujairah, according to oil market sources. Investigations have suggested that Gulf-based traders were behind the transaction, which was interrupted when US Navy Seals commandeered the vessel in international waters near Cyprus on 17 March. While loading crude on 12 March at As-Sidrah, one of four terminals under the command of regional Petroleum Facilities Guard chief turned separatist leader Ibrahim Al-Jathran, the Morning Glory crude tanker was registered under a North Korean flag. However, soon after it broke through a feeble Libyan navy blockade with 234,000 bbls of stolen crude on board, Pyongyang cancelled its registration, turning it into a stateless vessel. The US military acted soon afterwards, claiming that it had been taken over by three armed Libyans.