Ahmad 
Protesters threatened to shut down two oil and gas facilities near the Libyan capital Tripoli, as a group cracking down on corruption issued a 72-hour ultimatum expiring on Friday.
The group, which calls itself the Movement for the Eradication of Corruption, said in a video statement posted online that it would stop pumping gas from the Mellita complex, a joint venture between Libya’s National Oil Corporation and Italy’s Eni.
Any disruption would disrupt gas supplies via the Greenstream pipeline between Libya and Italy.
The protesters demanded the dismissal of the head of the National Oil Corporation, Farhat bin Qadara, for what they described as offences amounting to a crime.
They also demanded that Bin Qadara be banned from concluding any oil and gas agreements.
Other demands include job creation for young people in areas close to oil installations and prevention of environmental pollution.
Salem Mohammed, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters, “If the authorities do not respond to our demands, the movement could develop into civil disobedience.”
Libya’s oil sector, the country’s main source of income, has been the target of local political protests and wider protests since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
Both local and national groups are seeking a larger share of state revenues as well as political changes.
The group said it would close the National Oil Corporation’s Zawiya refinery west of Tripoli, which can process 120,000 barrels per day, making it the country’s largest operating refinery.