The Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohammed Oun, said the agreement of maritime demarcation with Turkey gave Libya massive water space, adding in an interview with Panorama TV, that his ministry had sent a letter to the former Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah to start drilling within the Libyan waters as per the agreement with Turkey but he took no heed of it.

"Libya needs about 10 years for oil production to reach 3 million barrels per day. Libya has now discovered 29 oil locations and 12 gas ones as per a study made by the Ministry. The oil sector is facing problems that include hesitation of foreign companies to work in Libya." Oun added.

He said that the government had allocated a budget of 34 billion Libyan dinars; 6.4 billion dinars of which were used to resolve the previous obligations of the NOC.

Commenting on the proposals made by the embassies of several countries, including the United States, regarding the management of the revenues of Libyan oil; Oun said that talking about managing oil revenues was an attempt to have a foreign influence on the management of the Libyan state.