By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 5 October 2013:
There is no evidence that oil is being exported illegally from Libya, according to the . . .[restrict]chairman of a commission set up to investigate accusations that crude is being exported without the use of proper meter counters.
Mustafa Hadi Emseik said that the country’s oil export terminals had documentation that refuted any suspicion of crude oil theft. He also pointed out that a large number of state entities were involved in the process of monitoring hydrocarbon exports, including the Ports Authority, the Ministry of Transport and Customs.
He added that, during port visits, the commission took random samples of exports and compared them to data held by the National Oil Corporation (NOC). These shipments, he said, had been paid for, with payments made direct to the State Treasury.
There have been a number of accusations about illegal oil exports, including by members of the General National Congress (GNC). Three are now being sued for defamation by representatives of the Justice and Construction Party who, they claimed, sold oil illegally. The Petroleum Facilities Guard, tasked with protecting Libya’s oil facilities, said that suspicions about illegal exports were one of the main reasons for the shut down of the country’s oil fields and export terminals in a series of nationwide strikes.
The commission submitted its final report to the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday. [/restrict]
