After a series of international arbitration cases filed by the United Arab Emirates'(UAE) group Al Gharir against the Libyan Oil Corporation (NOC), most of which were lost by the Emirati group, and some were even followed by rulings to compensate Libya in the amount of millions of dollars, and after the Trasta company owned by the Emirati group obstructed the resumption of work in the Ras Lanuf refinery due to the fact that it is a partner in it, the group offered a solution to this issue by selling its stake in Ras Lanuf to an unknown third party.
According to Fawasel media platform, NOC Chairman Farhat Bengdara addressed the Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah of, and the Head of the High Energy Council, demanding that the Emirati group, which owns Trasta; the NOC's partner in the Ras Lanuf refinery, accept the offer of selling its stake to an undisclosed third party.
Bengdara added that the deal to sell the stake to a third party would be in Libya’s interest because the new partner would restore the refinery’s operation and resume production, which would secure the country’s fuel needs, so that Libya would not be accused in arbitration cases of harming Trasta. He urged for the completion of the sale to be accompanied by the termination of the contract of Trasta company, which in turn would have to drop all lawsuits against Libya.
Ras Lanuf refinery was established in 1984 and was designed to produce all fuels in large quantities according to international specifications, with a production capacity of 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
It is noteworthy that the former NOC Chairman has repeatedly called for pressure on all parties to appoint the international expert according to the (fair market) price as stipulated in the shareholders’ agreement and to accelerate the purchase of the stake of the Emirati partner to restore the refinery in order to carry out maintenance, and operate the Ras Lanuf complex, despite Emirati partner's opposition to the appointment of the expert for several years.
