TRIPOLI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A group of protesters stormed Libya's Mellitah oil and gas complex in the Abu Kammash area, about 170 km west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on Tuesday morning, shutting down gas exports to Italy and cutting supplies to local power plants, local media reported.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Oil Corporation of Libya said the complex shutdown has halted output at the El Feel oil field and curbed production at the Al Wafa field, cutting critical gas and fuel supplies and forcing several power units offline.
Meanwhile, Libya's Government of National Unity said in a statement that Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah has ordered the interior and defense ministries to secure the Mellitah complex and end the shutdown.
The storming of the complex came amid protests in several Libyan cities in recent days over power outages and deteriorating public services, according to local media reports.
The Mellitah complex is one of Libya's key energy facilities, housing processing, storage, and export facilities. It also serves as the launch point for the Greenstream pipeline, which delivers Libyan gas directly to Italy. ■
