The Libyan Oil and Gas Ministry said the statement of the Chairman of National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah was a group of untrue allegations and fabrication, saying it finds it strange that he has been silent to these alleged violations over the last period.

The Ministry said Sanallah's statement aimed to distract Libyans from the decision of appointing a new board of directors for the NOC, adding that the decision was legal and must be implemented and that the appointment of Sanallah back in 2014 was illegal and temporary by a deputy minister.

It also accused Sanallah of being controlled by the embassies of some countries, and that the Minister of Oil and Gas himself argued with them when they blatantly defended Sanallah's stay at his position, saying that they abandoned him due to the energy crisis and being behind misleading until the crisis worsened.

The Oil and Gas Ministry said that Sanallah was allocated the highest budget obtained by the NOC in the history of Libya, but he failed to implement it and develop the sector due to his weak administrative capacity and the arbitrary behavior.

It confirmed that the Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Aoun, will directly follow up the supervision of the new board of directors of the NOC, which will work soon, describing the current NOC board's tenure as a bad page in the history of the sector.

Sanallah rejected in a video statement Dbeibah’s decision to sack him and rendered it illegal, saying he is no longer a head of government, adding that Dbeibah aims to manipulate the NOC to his benefit by striking deals with the UAE.