The National Oil Corporation (NOC) expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation” of the accusations against the Brega Oil and Gas Marketing Company of involvement in operations to smuggle Libyan crude oil.
The NOC said in a statement in response to an investigative report published by Bloomberg that what the Albanian authorities said about the ship Queen Majeda" possessing papers for the shipment bearing the Brega Company logo was baseless and the documents were forged.
The statement warned that the irresponsible accusations may lead to the imposition of a ban on the company by the global oil market, stressing that the NOC “will not hesitate to take legal measures inside and outside Libya to counter the accusations.”
The NOC also confirmed that it provided all assistance and support and worked with the Sanctions Committee formed by the Security Council, in addition to its full work and cooperation with the Attorney General’s Office in providing all information and support in this regard.
The NOC addressed the Attorney General in a communication letter in which it indicated that tankers had carried out marine shipping operations outside the framework of the NOC and Brega Company's activities on 9 and 18 October, 2022.
The NOC explained in its letter that “the two tankers, Queen Majeda and Aqua Marina, carried out two illegal shipments, filling the oil cargo from the port of Benghazi and unloading it in Turkey." The NOC also called for all legal measures to be taken to prosecute the parties behind these illegal operations.
Bloomberg published an investigation in which it said that approximately 40% of the fuel that is imported into the country leaks through illicit trade through smuggling, with a financial value estimated at 5 billion dollars annually.
The investigation revealed that a ship by the name Queen Majeda sailed in September 2022 from the port of Benghazi, carrying $2 million worth of gas oil, heading towards Porto Romano in Albania, based on the captain’s testimony that the sailing was with official documents stating that the fuel came from the Brega company, signed and bearing the company’s seals.
