The Libyan Public Prosecution asked the Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Farhat Bengdara, to halt negotiations leading to the signing of a contract to develop Hamada oilfield until a decisive judicial decision is issued to achieve regularity in contracting procedures.
This call came in a letter addressed by the Deputy Prosecutor in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Mustafa Khalifa Al-Gaisa, to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NOC on Wednesday, saying it "considered the information included in the communication of the Minister of Oil and Gas regarding the National Oil Corporation’s proceeding with the procedures paving the way for signing the contract for the development of the Hamada field (MNA NC7).”
"There's an overlap of the information provided by the Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed Oun with the rules and controls for signing contracts for participation in the oil and gas industry, and that the negotiations were far from achieving the contractual balance." The letter says.
The House of Representatives revealed in a statement dated December 24 that the Government of National Unity intended to award the contract to develop Hamada field to a foreign consortium that includes the Italian company Eni, the Emirati ADNOC, and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation.
It said that the government intended to sign the agreement at the beginning of next year, explaining that the agreement included giving up approximately 40% of the field’s production in favor of the foreign companies. It also warned “the concerned countries against involvement in exploiting the circumstances that Libya is going through in order to plunder its wealth and blackmail for the sake of corrupt deals or causing serious harm to the country and its economy.”
