Libyan rebels attempt to overtake oil ports

BENGHAZI, Libya - Sustained rocket and artillery fire from Libyan army forces stalled the rebel advance on the city of Brega Tuesday, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

The city may look like just another shambles in a Groundhog Day war, but Brega is an oil port and the rebels need as many of those as they can get.

The first oil shipment from rebel areas began loading in the port of Tobruk Tuesday, but it could be the only one.

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Sources say Qaddafi's forces attacked the pumping station that feeds crude into an underground pipeline to Tobruk.

Three million barrels of oil are already stored in Tobruk, but pipelines need a constant, if minimal, flow of oil to stay in working order.

Oil underpins everything in Libya.

Under Qaddafi's unique economic system, most people's salaries were paid by the government, averaging about $250 a month.

Banking sources say there's only enough money left in rebel-held areas to keep that going for another two to three months.

Banks have plenty of cash, but the international freeze on Libyan assets is hurting.

"The U.N. can help by exempting our institutions from sanctions," bank manager Wassem Al-Zwaey said through a translator. "But if this drags on, people will become dependent on relief aid."

The stores may look full, but most of the merchandise is imported.

Dr. Salma Megrabi says that even though she has money, she can't get everything she wants and worries that things will only get worse, which more or less sums up the way the fighting is going as well.