By Sami Zaptia.
London, 28 February 2021:
Libya’s state National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced record January 2021 oil revenues of 1,409,093,619.13 U.S. dollars deposited in its Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB) account in line with the country’s current financial arrangements.
These arrangements were part of the Ahmed Maetig-Khalifa Hafter deal that allowed for the unblocking of the eastern oilfields under Hafter’s control in return for oil revenues being held away from the Tripoli Central Bank of Libya and the outgoing Faiez Serraj Tripoli government – until a comprehensive political and economic agreement is reached.
Commenting on the oil revenue figures, the NOC reported its chairman Mustafa Sanalla saying: ‘‘The NOC, its companies and its workers in various areas of operations have struggled over the past months to achieve this income by increasing production rates at record times.’’
However, the NOC cautioned that it did not receive the allocation of hydrocarbons for January and February 2021 respectively, and it continues to finance the operation of vital facilities for the country with special arrangements with banks, and reserves the full right to hold accountable official authorities that have violated their obligations and obligations.
It said that the Attorney General’s Office will be briefed on the full background to determine the motives behind heading to the collapse of vital facilities in the country, and to bypass the law in these emergency circumstances as these irresponsible actions may constitute criminal offences because of damage to the stability of vital facilities and national security ( power plants, desalination plants, strategic factories, fuel stations) and in light of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in various regions of Libya.
“Despite the confusion and bureaucracy of some decision-making circles in the state in order to liquefy the necessary and urgent budgets that are still pending, the NOC is dealing with the challenges out of its sense of national responsibility towards the citizen,” said Sanalla.
