North Africa buffeted by fragile politics and markets

Libya's oil output is recovering. But both it and neighbour Algeria are struggling to market their barrels

Libya's violent ructions have recently inveigled the Gulf states, with the launch of air strikes by United Arab Emirates (UAE) fighter planes on Islamist militia targets in late August. That military engagement reflects the Gulf's discomfort with the rise of jihadist Islam, which they view as an existential threat. But the large Middle Eastern oil producers also see Libya as a challenge in more practical terms; given the dampening impact that reviving Libyan production is having on prices.  The outage of more than 1 million barrels a day (b/d) of Libyan crude between mid-2013 and mid-2014, as a potent mix of industrial unrest and militant action sent production plummeting as low as 200,000 b