U.S. Oil Workers Question Reagan Order to Quit Libya

American oil workers today challenged President Reagan’s authority to order them out of Libya and said they might not be able to comply with a Feb. 1 deadline for leaving the country even if they wanted to.

Most Americans reacted calmly to the threat to jobs that pay them an average of $96,000 a year. After speaking by radio with his workers on oil rigs, one supervisor said they did not seem impressed or excited.

“They asked me how things are, and I said everything is fine,” he said.

“All it did,” one worker’s wife said, “was upset the kids.”

Deadline Questioned

U.S. workers in Libya questioned whether they could meet the deadline without breaking their contracts with state-owned Libyan companies, which demand 30 days notice.

“I don’t think it’s constitutional,” said one Texan, who has lived in Libya for 26 years. “I don’t think the order will hold up in the courts or that they would send us to prison.

“Reagan cannot change the Constitution,” he added. “He may have presidential rights, but we have the rights of passport holders and to work where we want.”

The oil workers also expressed doubts that the removal of American experts would have any punitive effect on Libya itself. They said Libya can easily replace them and has long been purchasing oil equipment from Western Europe.

Most of the 1,500 Americans in Libya work for state-owned Libyan firms like the National Oil Co. and the National Drilling Co. Others are employed by the Arian Gulf Oil Co. and Sirte Oil Co.

Operate Oil Fields

Four U.S. oil companies--Occidental Petroleum, Conoco, Marathon and Amerada Hess--are the main operators of Libyan oil fields, producing about 75% of Libya’s output of 1.1 million barrels per day. Most employ no Americans in Libya.

Earning an average monthly salary of $8,000 a month, much of it tax-exempt, and receiving free housing, the Americans live well in Libya, and the financial issue was clearly on their minds.

“We have been for Reagan from the beginning, but will he pay our salary or give us a job?” the wife of the Texan asked.

But many adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

“In my case, I’m not packing up,” one oil worker said. “We’ll play it day by day and see how tense it gets, or if it calms down.”