US forces Haftar to hand Libyan oil ports back to NOC

A firm international response led by the United States and a collapse in the resolve of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) are the main factors which forced the unexpected return of the eastern oil terminals to official National Oil Corporation (NOC) control on 11 July, allowing the lifting of force majeure and the resumption of operations and exports. As none of the central demands set out by the LNA’s General Command appear to have been met, the underlying political tensions which motivated the crisis will remain a destabilising force.