A massive fire erupted at Libya’s Zawiya refinery after a drone struck a gasoline storage tank, prompting the National Oil Corporation to warn that continued attacks could force it to suspend operations at the country’s largest operating refinery.
Firefighters battled the blaze into Tuesday, while health authorities reported no serious injuries, with most patients treated for smoke inhalation.
The NOC said the fire began Monday evening after tank 402-T, operated by the Brega Oil Company, was directly targeted.
The tank contained about 4.5 million litres of gasoline and later collapsed as the fire intensified.
The refinery, located west of Tripoli, has a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.
The strike followed attacks on a desalination plant on Sunday and a naphtha or fuel reservoir on Saturday.
As crews fought the fire, the NOC said another drone targeted an oil blending and filling plant, falling near a main oil tank and pipeline network without causing casualties or damage.
The company declared a maximum emergency and called for an investigation.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The NOC warned that further attacks could lead it to declare force majeure and suspend refinery operations.
Brega Oil Company appealed for fighting to stop around oil facilities, describing them as vital infrastructure belonging to all Libyans.
A parliamentary committee also condemned the refinery attack and called for stronger protection of oil installations.
Separately, Maj. Gen. Fawzy al-Mansouri, military intelligence director for Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, was killed Monday in a car bombing in Benghazi.
No group claimed responsibility for that attack.
The Tripoli-based government said Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met security officials and armed-group chiefs to review developments and called for firm action against threats to vital facilities.
The attacks come amid continuing divisions between rival administrations in western and eastern Libya, with armed groups retaining significant influence.