The Head of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah said the decision to lift the blockade on Libyan oil seems to be awaiting an overseas call from regional countries that are taking advantage of the status quo in Libya.
Sanallah told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that force majeure on oil fields and ports cannot happen until the ones who closed them make a decision, denying that there will be a new mechanism to distribute oul revenues via three banks (west, east and south branches).
"The idea we have is to resume oil production and exports and then freeze the revenues at the NOC bank accounts for a while until negotiations on financial transparency via monitoring spending across Libya and reconstruction of security arrangements to secure all oil facilities so they cannot be used as military targets or bargaining chip." Sanallah added.
He reiterated that Libya had lost so far 6.4 billion dollars after 167 days of oil blockade as the infrastructure was being damaged, adding that attempts to reach an agreement to reopen oil production had been hindered by the party that closed the fields and ports.
"We don't know why the regional countries are delaying the lifting of oil blockade, but we are sure they are happy that Libyan oil is absent from world markets, knowing that Libya will find it hard to regain the same production capacity as before the blockade." He added.
