Libya’s oil partners and the international community fully back the unity of state-run National Oil Corporation, despite attempts by the recognised government in the east to set up a parallel oil payment system, the NOC chief in Tripoli said.
Four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the North African Opec producer is caught in a conflict between its recognised government and a self-declared one controlling Tripoli, each backed by rival armed factions.
Control of the oil revenues and installations is at the heart of Libya’s post-revolt upheaval that has left much of the petroleum infrastructure closed by strikes, blockades or conflict between competing armed factions.
The original NOC headquarters remain in Tripoli, and the state oil company and central bank have until now kept on the sidelines, making payments under to the usual national system of distributing oil revenues.
But the eastern government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has set up a parallel NOC and lobbies oil companies. Last week the east again warned foreign partners they would have to register with its state oil authorities in the future. So far, the eastern government appears to have failed to build major support for its campaign to sell crude to markets separately. It wants to divert oil revenues to a parallel bank account to bring crude under its control.
The system still works properly and is functioning well for NOC trading
“The international community, the international companies and also governments are supporting the NOC to be united and to be one body,” Mustafa Sanalla, long-time chairman of the NOC appointed before two-government rivalry, said.
“Nobody likes to see division in the Libya oil sector, otherwise this would mean we are dividing the country. Nobody would like this, even in the east.”
Highlighting international worries over splitting the NOC, the United Nations Security Council on Saturday expressed serious concern over the integrity and unity of key institutions.
Mr Sanalla said the NOC had no direct contact with the eastern energy body, and as far as he was aware, the east had not exported oil independently.
“The system still works properly and is functioning well for NOC trading and the central bank. All the money is in the same procedure. It is very clear and transparent,” he said.
Mr Sanalla said Libya’s national production was now at around 415,000 barrels per day - well off the 1.6 million bpd it produced before the fall of Gaddafi. Exports were around 320,000 to 330,000 bpd, he said. Most of the production came from AGOCO and Sirte oil company units as well as Mellitah complex and an offshore field. El Sharara, El Feel and some Sirte basin oilfields remained closed as well as Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zueitina ports.
“We have the capability to produce more than one million in just in a few days, unfortunately, due to these strikes and the problem of blockades of some terminals and oilfields, this is why our production is low,” he said.