The head of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the Libyan Parliament, Issa Al-Araibi announced his support for the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla, after Oil and Gas Minister, Mohamed Aoun announced that Sanalla had been suspended and referred for investigation.
In a statement, Al-Araibi claimed that the correspondences between Aoun and the NOC are “useless except to confuse the scene and impede the internal work of the NOC, which may lead to a decline or halt in production and thus the cessation of oil exports.”
Al-Araibi called on the Prime Minister to immediately intervene, withdraw all correspondence, and stop what he described as “tampering, which will only lead to greater aggravation of the situation, and dire consequences for this vital sector.”
Sanalla rejected the attempt by Aoun to suspend him from work, and dissolve the NOC’s Board of Directors. During an interview with Asharq Business newspaper in his office in Tripoli, Sanalla said, “The Oil Minister cannot legally suspend me from work or refer me for investigations. The cabinet is the decision maker and has the last word on the National Oil Corporation.”