On 13 December a group of brigades from Misrata in conjunction with Ansar al-Sharia in Sirte began advancing on the oil crescent in an attempt to ‘liberate’ the country’s energy facilities. The Libyan National Army has hit back hard and at the time of writing the clashes were ongoing in and around the town of Bin Jawad that is 150 km east of Sirte. This marks the most serious escalation yet in the battle to control Libya’s energy sector and spells bad news for the country. The forces themselves, which referred to themselves as Shourouk Libya, or Libya Sunrise, and that comprised some 250-300 vehicles justified the move by claiming that they were acting under a decision issued by the head of the GNC Nuri Abu Sahmaine back in 2013 instructing revolutionary forces to liberate the oil ports from pro-federalist protestors led by Ibrahim Jadhran.