Libya’s National Oil Corporation the ‘only legitimate entity’ for oil management

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli is the only legitimate entity responsible for managing oil under the exclusive supervision of the government, two senior officials have said. Fayez Al-Sarraj, the Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), and UN envoy Ghassan Salame made their joint statement during a meeting on Thursday at the Council’s headquarters in Tripoli.

The two men also called for a change in the current political direction in order to safeguard the vital and economic interests of all Libyans. They agreed that recent developments and unilateral decisions do not serve the approved political path in preparation for holding presidential and parliamentary elections on a sound constitutional basis.

In a related move, Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan forces backed by the rival parliament based in Tobruk, declared on Wednesday his commitment to the outcomes of the recent Paris talks, and tried to reassure the international oil companies over the fate of Libya’s oil ports. His comment came in response to accusations by Libyan parties, including the GNA, that he is working against the outcomes of the Paris meeting, given the backdrop of handing over major oil exporting ports to a parallel oil company to run them. Haftar had claimed that oil money was being used to support terrorists.