What happened

Protesters demanding jobs, regional investment and implementation of a 2017 government agreement established a camp near El Kamour on 9 July. On 16 July, hundreds of demonstrators passed the station's perimeter without reported violence, stopped its electrical generator and closed the oil-shipping valve. Tunisia's state petroleum company later recorded the valve as closed until 6 November, causing significant production disruption across several southern oil and gas concessions. Pumping resumed after the government and protest coordinators reached an agreement. El Kamour had previously been blockaded in 2017 and protesters briefly closed another production valve in November 2021, showing a recurring pattern; this record covers the especially consequential July–November 2020 shutdown rather than treating every recurrence as a separate incident.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.