noc

The National Oil Corporation's (NOC) Chairman Farhat Bengdara held a series of meetings in Washington with a number of US administration officials to discuss ways to support the NOC's independence. 

According to a statement published by the NOC's Facebook page, the meetings included a meeting at the White House with Amos Hochstein, Special Advisor to the US President.

Bengdara also met with Joshua Harris, Assistant Secretary of State for International Affairs at the US Department of State, and Sibyl Siegel, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for the US Agency for International Development's Middle East Office.

Bengdara held a meeting at the Treasury Department with Anthony Marcus, the US Treasury's International Affairs Officer. At the Energy Department, he met with Assistant Secretary of Energy Jeffrey Pyatt, Brad Crabtree, and Josh Volz.

He also met with Thomas Prince, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce, according to a statement by the National Oil Corporation, which quoted US officials as saying they "fully support the NOC in its efforts to maintain its independence and neutrality, especially in light of the challenges and pressures it faces."

The US officials stressed their readiness to provide all forms of technical and technological support to enhance cooperation with the NOC in the areas of governance and transparency, in addition to raising the efficiency of workers in the Libyan oil sector.

They stressed the need to protect the NOC from interference that may hinder its performance, highlighting "its vital role in securing the revenues of the Libyan state, in addition to the stability of global energy supplies, especially in light of issues related to reducing production and the crisis of the Central Bank of Libya."

The importance of developing partnerships in the field of reducing carbon emissions was emphasized through the transfer of technology and the knowledge necessary to achieve common environmental goals, especially within the framework of the initiatives put forward by the National Oil Corporation during the COP 28 global climate summit, to reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

The meetings saw also agreements to continue coordination between the two parties, including organizing future meetings and visits, with the aim of enhancing economic cooperation and supporting the entry of American companies into the Libyan oil sector.