Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Thursday that the Government of National Unity’s head, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, has accepted the resignation of the NOC Chief, Farhat Bengdara, due to urgent health conditions that prevented him from performing his duties and responsibilities.
It added in a statement that Dbeibah appointed Masoud Sulaiman, an NOC board member, as acting chief to assume the duties temporarily.
The statement affirmed the corporation’s full commitment to continue working to ensure the stability of the oil sector and enhance its role as a fundamental pillar of the economy.
READ: UN calls for immediate probe into ‘torture footage’ in east Libya prison
A source from Bengdara’s office told Reuters that the former head, who was appointed to the position in July 2022, succeeding Mustafa Sanalla, submitted his resignation to Dbeibah three times in one year as he wanted to have back surgery that would require him to rest for months and it could not be postponed.
The NOC manages the technical sector of oil and gas production, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries in OPEC member Libya; the third largest oil producer in North Africa.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a popular revolution in 2011, oil production in Libya has been repeatedly affected by groups closing facilities, sometimes for financial gain, and sometimes as a means to achieve political goals.
In mid-December, the NOC declared force majeure after reservoirs at the Zawiya refinery, west of Tripoli, were severely damaged due to ongoing clashes between armed groups in its vicinity.
READ: Turkiye President Erdogan, Libya Premier Dbeibeh discuss regional, global issues