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Libya's oil should not be politicised, says UN envoy 

April 21, 2022 at 10:54 am

United Nations’s special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Turco William meets Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh on 21 April 2022 [SASGonLibya/Twitter]

Libya’s oil production should not be politicised, the United Nations’s special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Turco Williams, warned yesterday.

Williams said on Twitter that there is a “need to refrain from the politicization of oil production while ensuring effective, transparent management and equitable distribution of affiliated revenues.”

The UN official said she discussed the matter with Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and his team yesterday in the presence of Mission Coordinator and UNSMIL OiC Mr. Raisedon Zenenga.

On Monday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure on oil exports from the El-Sharara oil field – the largest oil field in the country – and the Zuwetina oil port in central Libya. A similar announcement was made by the company on Sunday for oil exports from El-Feel oilfield.

This came after tribal leaders announced that oil production in southern and central Libya would be halted until Dbeibeh hands over power to the newly appointed government of Fathi Bashagha. Dbeibah has said he will only hand over power to an elected government.

Yesterday he instructed the security and military agencies to take all possible measures to deal with the closures. He also instructed the Public Prosecution to “open an immediate investigation into the closures that took place in oil ports and fields and all those involved in them.”

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