The Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah has revealed that Libya’s ability to rebuild its oil production is going to be impeded by the ongoing constraints on the state oil firm's budget.
Sanallah told a Chatham House conference in London on Tuesday that the NOC received only 50 percent of its capital expenditure budget from the Libyan government in 2017.
He also explained that in terms of investment, the NOC believes that like in 2016 and 2017, this year political actors will attempt to use control of the state budget process to control NOC.
“If NOC is lost, Libya will take a long time to be put back together,” Sanallah remarked at the conference.
Sanallah pointed out his hopes that further blockades in the eastern region would be avoided, saying he has faith in what he described as the "Libyan National Army (LNA)" - Khalifa Haftar's forces in eastern Libya - which he said had ended a blockade by the forces of Ibrahim Jodran on key export ports in September 2016.
“I don’t believe the LNA and its leadership will now allow the tactics of Jodran to be used under their supervision, especially because of their devastating economic effect.” Sanallah further explained.
Besides budget constraints, the NOC's efforts to keep the oil production in Libya on a steady rise have been constantly tested by fragile security and lawlessness.