Zuwetina
Town
Native nameالزويتينة
CountryLibya
RegionCyrenaica
DistrictAl Wahat
Unit prefImperial
Population as of2004
Population total21015
Time zoneEET (UTC+2)
Coordinates30°57′08″N 20°7′13″E
Elevation5 m

Zuwetina or Zuetine ( Marsa Uasili; Arabic: الزويتينة) is a coastal town and oil-exporting port in the Al Wahat District of the Cyrenaica region in northeastern Libya.[1] From 1987 to 2007, Zuwetina was in the former Ajdabiya District.

The oil terminal in the small harbor is operated by the Zuwetina Oil Company. The town's primary activities relate to oil production and transshipping crude oil. It is about 180 km southwest of Benghazi.[2] The port has the capacity to store 4.3 million barrels of crude oil, 986,000 barrels of naphtha, 136,000 barrels of liquefied butane gas and 86,000 barrels of liquefied propane gas.[3]

The port was the site of skirmishes between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 Libyan civil war.[4] Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, there have been multiple strikes and environmental conflict disruptions due to conflict over the production of oil.[5] In 2022, the National Oil Corporation said that damage from the course of the war, meant that the facilities at the site were vulnerable to potential spills.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Maplandia world gazetteer
  2. ^ Zuetina Oil Company Archived May 29, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Zueitina Oil Port". www.zueitina.com.ly. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  4. ^ "Rebels deny Gaddafi troops on Benghazi outskirts". Reuters. March 17, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2011.
  5. ^ "Zueitina oil port blockade, Libya". EJ Atlas. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  6. ^ "Libya's NOC announces 'temporary lifting' of force majeure on Zueitina oil port to relieve storage". S&P Global. 1 May 2022.