The Libyan Oil and Gas Ministry denounced the statements of the US ambassador Richard Norland after his meeting with the Chairman, Mustafa Sanallah, saying they are inappropriate and clear intervention in Libyan domestic affairs, which is unacceptable.

The Ministry said Norland's statements are a violation of the Libyan sovereignty and intervention in the issues of state resources management, adding that the Libyan government is the only entity responsible for such matters.

It added that the National Oil Corporation is just an entity of the Ministry of Oil and Ga, saying that Norland's statements are understood as an undermining of the government efforts to end institutional division.

US embassy said on Twitter that Norland had told Sanallah that they recognized the National Oil Corporation as an autonomous entity and the only legitimate body in the country's oil and gas sector.