TRIPOLI, Libya, May 13 (UPI) -- BP said it acted on advice from the British government when it decided to pull some of its foreign staff out of Libya because of violence.
BP said its Libyan staff stayed behind but the company pulled non-essential foreigner workers out of the country "purely as a precautionary measure" following the advice from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, energy news website Rigzone reports.
Last week, Italian energy company Eni expressed similar concerns about Libyan unrest but said the turmoil was expected to be short-lived.
The British government pulled a small number of staff from the British Embassy in Tripoli last week because of political and security concerns. Gunmen had occupied some ministerial buildings and the British government warned of "a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping."
A January terrorist attack at an Algerian gas facility, operated in part by BP, was said to be launched from Libya. A convoy from the Italian consul was attacked in Libya in January and, last month, the French Embassy in Tripoli was bombed.
BP and Eni were early returnees to Libya as civil war drew to a close in 2011.
The International Monetary Fund said that Libya's economy depends almost entirely on hydrocarbons for revenue and 60 percent of gross domestic product.
