The Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Aoun, suspended the Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanallah, from work pending an investigation of the violations attributed to him, and assigned Jadallah Al-Awkali the duties of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NOC.

The Minister explained that the suspension was due to Sanallah’s violations and his carrying out foreign travel missions without the Minister’s prior permission or approval, in addition to his obstruction of Jadallah Al-Awkali from performing his duties as the designated chairperson of the NOC’s Board of Directors.

On August 24, Aoun issued a decision to appoint Jadallah Al-Awkali, a member of the Board of Directors of the NOC, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation, due to the absence of Sanallah.

Al-Awkali sent a letter to the Minister, informing him that he was unable to carry out the assignment based on orders from Mustafa Sanallah.

For its part, the General Petroleum Union demanded the continuation of the recommendation of the Minister of Oil, to assign Jadallah Al-Awkali the duties of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NOC, and to work to stop its current Chairman, Mustafa Sanallah.

It also said in a statement that Sanallah caused administrative confusion by deliberately ignoring the laws, rules and decisions regulating the labour relations of the Libyan oil sector.