Haftar to Norland: “Do not put your noses in the Libyan problems,”

The head of the self-styled Libyan National Army, stationed in the oil-rich eastern region, warned July 3 that his forces should be on standby until a new committee starts work to equitably distribute oil wealth amid fears of a resumption of blockades on oil fields and ports in the OPEC producer.

In a speech during a military gathering, Khalifa Haftar, who wields power in the eastern region and has previously orchestrated oil blockades on fields and ports, called for the formation of a new higher committee to distribute oil wealth fairly among all regions.

Haftar, who said the LNA is responsible for protecting oil fields and ports, gave an ultimatum that this committee, which should comprise legal and financial experts, should be formed and start work by the end of August, otherwise he would be ready to intervene.

“If the startup of the work of this committee is delayed for any reason, Libyans from all areas and cities will be on time to demand their legitimate rights from the oil wealth, until all our citizens enjoy their country’s wealth that has been denied to them because of selectivity and moodiness and deliberate tampering with this wealth,” Haftar said.

“In this regard, the armed forces should be on standby at the required time to do their mandated tasks .”

Power tussle

During last year’s oil blockade, state-owned National Oil Corp. declared force majeure on production and exports, with output falling to a near two-year low of 650,000 b/d in June 2022, according to the Platts survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights, against a capacity of around 1.25 million b/d.

Since the lifting of the oil blockade and force majeure in July last year, Libya’s oil production has recovered, with production reaching 1.15 million b/d in May, according to the latest Platts survey.

Any potential new blockade would deny Europe a major oil source at a time of dwindling Russian supplies. Libya, which holds the largest crude reserves in Africa, exports mainly light sweet crude grades such as Brega, Es Sider and Sharara, and its main export markets are in Southern Europe and China.

Unprecedented looting

 

NOC, based in Tripoli, is responsible for producing and exporting the country’s crude and its revenue flows to the central bank, which is also based in the capital.

Haftar, who accused various entities and officials in Tripoli of corruption, said the current “looting” of public wealth was unprecedented in Libya’s modern history, and accused the central bank of committing crimes, claiming that more than Dinars 200 billion ($42 billion) in public money had been squandered in the last two years.

The latest threat of resuming oil blockades is jeopardizing the détente reached last year between GNU’s prime minister Abdula Hamid Dbeibah and Haftar, which led to a change of guards at NOC and the appointment of ex-central bank chief Farhat Bengdara as chairman in July 2022.

His appointment, which led to the end of the oil blockade and the lifting of force majeure, helped stabilize oil and gas production.

 

US ‘meddling’

 

But now Bengdara’s position may be caught in the power struggle. In the last few days, he has met with officials in the east and west amid local media reports saying he might resign.

A NOC spokesman declined to comment on the reports of his potential resignation.

Norland’s comments, which ruffled the feathers of officials in the east, were followed with his renewed calls for addressing corruption and having “a transparent and accountable revenue management mechanism,” according to a July 3 Twitter post that preceded Haftar’s speech.

Haftar also did not spare Richard Norland, the US ambassador to Libya, from his criticism after the diplomat cautioned against any oil blockades and any attempts to jeopardize NOC’s “apolitical nature,” according to a June 30 Twitter post.

“Do not put your noses in the Libyan problems,” Haftar said in his speech, addressing Norland and other Western ambassadors intervening in the country’s political affairs.