British Petroleum said Monday it would evacuate the families and dependents of British oil workers in Libya as well as "non-essential staff" due to the spreading unrest in the North African country, DPA reported.
A BP spokesman in London said the company had a staff of 140 in Libya, of whom around 40 were British nationals. BP has an office in Tripoli. Preparatory work for drilling in the desert in the west of the country had been suspended.
"We are at the beginning of a long programme of activity over several decades," said the spokesman. He described the evacuation measures as "precautionary."
"There has been no actual trouble," said the spokesman in relation to BP staff.