The Deputy Minister of Oil and Gas, Refat Al-Abbar, filed his resignation to the Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, according to the media office of the state ministries and institutions.

Al-Abbar said his resignation was driven by personal issues, thanking Dbeibah for his trust and saying he was happy to take on the job over the last few months, working on solving problems in the oil and gas sector and exerting efforts to increase production.

During the dispute between the Oil and Gas Minister and the Chairman of the National Oil Corporation, Al-Abbar refused the former's decision to sack the latter and recommended that he continued in his position.

Observers close to the government say the resignation was driven by pro-Haftar personalities, especially that Haftar's sons had been close to Al-Abbar whose appointment in Dbeibah's government was made to satisfy to Haftar's supporters when Dbeibah was looking for a positive budget vote at the House of Representatives in April.