The post-revolution shape of the country may well be defined not by lawmakers in Tripoli, constitutional experts or political ideologies, but rather by the hard realities at ports and oil fields hundreds of miles from the seat of government.

The Libyan Army says protesters who have forced the closure of oil ports should open them “without condition” to allow crude exports to resume, warning that the country risks sliding into lawlessness.

Tubu protesters from Rebiana and Kufra say they have “suspended” their actions, which have disrupted works at the Sarir oil field, to allow room for negotiations with the government.

Fitch Ratings has revised Eni’s outlook from stable to negative as problems in Libya continue to affect the Italian energy firm's output.

The Brega Petroleum Marketing Company, which distributes gasoline to petrol stations in Libya, says its operations have not been affected by labour action in Benghazi.

Libya's prime minister Ali Zeidan recently held meetings with a number of local leaders from the Wahat region, in eastern Libya, in an attempt to reopen oil ports in the region.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has denied rumours that it has approved oil sales from ports in eastern Libya, after a pro-federal group claimed it would start selling crude. 

A potential agreement between two oil firms involved in exploration of the maritime border area between Tunisia and Libya has collapsed because of funding issues.

Speaking to the Libya Monitor, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said both sites are exporting crude as normal, and dismissed the announcement of a new oil company by eastern federalists as a “publicity stunt”.

Italy's biggest natural gas operator says it has started receiving supply through the Greenstream pipeline, as the Mellitah facility reopens after being shut by Amazigh protesters.

The export terminal at Brega has loaded oil to a 600,000-barrel capacity tanker, thought to be the first such shipment in over a month.

Gas exports to Italy resumed on 18 November, according to the National Oil Corporation (NOC), a day after Amazigh protesters halted action at the Mellitah oil and gas facility in western Libya.

Amazigh protesters, who have closed the oil and gas facility in western Libya for over a week, say they have halted their blockade after the bloodshed in Tripoli on 15 November.

The average price at which Libya sells various blends of crude oil dipped in the first half of 2013 after reaching record levels last year, according to National Oil Corporation (NOC) figures.

January-June export volumes were more than double the annual total of 2012, but still lag behind pre-war levels.