Libyan National Army Chief Khalifa Hifter's offer to reopen oil export terminals is likely an opportunistic short-term strategy to leverage factional disarray within the Government of National Accord as Hifter seeks to strengthen his position in international negotiations and gain some much needed financial relief in eastern Libya. The agreement with GNA Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Matiq announced Sept. 18 will not satisfy the demands of many with the GNA, but puts them in an awkward position as the GNA deals with its own economic crisis and protests against the government. 

• According to the LNA and Matiq, seven points were agreed upon, including the immediate reopening of the oil terminals and the establishment of a joint technical committee that would ensure a fair distribution of oil revenues. 
• In its statement accompanying the document agreed to with Matiq, the LNA added that it had agreed with tribal groups to open up terminals for just one month on condition that revenue would not be used to fund terrorism. The LNA singled out militias linked to Khalid al-Mishri, who heads the legislative body under the GNA and is linked to Libya's Muslim Brotherhood. 
• Prior to the announcement, Libya's National Oil Corp. published a statement that it would not lift its force majeure declaration on oil exports until oil installations were demilitarized. 

Hifter's position within the LNA has been weakened by a failed offensive against Tripoli in June as well as by collapsed oil exports and delays on salary payments to public workers in LNA-controlled eastern Libya, undermining tribal support for the shutdown. The failure of the offensive has exposed the LNA's inability to actually take Libya by force, leading some of his supporters, such as eastern tribal elders, to focus on other priorities, including the economic crisis in eastern Libya. Hifter's struggles have also led to other leaders in eastern Libya, including the head of the eastern Libya-based House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, to try to position themselves as the critical voice of eastern Libya in negotiations. By allowing exports, Hifter seeks to undermine Saleh's attempts and push the blame on the region's economic conditions to his rivals. 

• In response to Hifter cutting off oil exports, the Central Bank of Libya has suspended some public salary payments to workers in eastern Libya and reduced the eastern Libyan banking sector's access to the Libyan transaction clearing system.
• The cut in oil production has also led to a cut in associated gas production, making importing diesel more difficult and leading to blackouts throughout the country, including in Benghazi. 
• The protests forced Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni's government, the executive branch backed by the House of Representatives, to resign Sept. 14 in response, leaving Saleh and Hifter as the main political powers in the east.

Hifter is trying to play off of discord within the GNA, which is grappling with similar economic woes and factionalism, but his support for sustaining exports over the long term is predicated on reform of Libya's financial sector. This is unlikely given that powerful politically entrenched militias and their political allies in the west benefit from the status quo, meaning that any restart of Libyan oil production could be short lived and not extended past the first month. The GNA has experienced its own leadership fight and economic pressure, which will accelerate following al-Sarraj's Sept. 17 announcement that he intends to resign. Against this backdrop, if the NOC backs the deal and resume exports, the GNA will have little leverage to prevent oil exports from returning in the short term. It is not clear to what extent Matiq has the backing of many powerful figures, including Bashagha and al-Sarraj in order to make many of the structural long-term reforms, such as reforming the financial system and removing the leader of the Central Bank of Libya. Such reforms would require significant support from most GNA factions. Hifter and the LNA's anti-Muslim Brotherhood position will also continue to ruffle the feathers of many brotherhood-linked GNA figures.