Libya's eastern government has reportedly blocked a Thenamaris tanker from loading a cargo of crude from the Tripoli government's National Oil Corp (NOC).

The move puts tankers in the middle of a tit-for-tat dispute over oil as rival governments vie for control of the oil-producing nation.

Reuters reports that the eastern government's oil company, also called NOC, ordered workers in Marsa el-Hariga not to load the Greek shipowner's 107,000-dwt Seachance (built 2004).

Satellite