On Saturday, the Libyan Oil and Gas Minister, Mohamed Aoun, said that his meeting with the Russian Energy Minister in Doha will concern statements made by the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany and Italy regarding the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
In press statements, Aoun said, “I noticed since I took over the Ministry that the US and the UK in particular, are blatantly and provocatively interfering in the issue of NOC for their own reasons.”
The Libyan Oil Minister added that this interference is totally unacceptable to the Ministry of Oil and Gas, and such actions and interventions must be put to an end once and for all.
Aoun added that, “the Oil Ministry will announce on Sunday the steps that will be taken in response to such interventions.”
He added that the Prime Minister and the Head of the Libyan Administrative Control Authority are the ones who can stop the Head of the NOC, Mustafa Sanalla. He stated that NOC’s Chairman committed a clear violation of the law.
Aoun claimed that Sanalla withheld 10.900 billion Libyan dinars in foreign companies for more than a year without claiming their profits. He concluded that NOC’s Chairman is abusing and wasting the sustainable development funds.
He continued by saying that, “the statement of the five countries is related to the Ministry’s recovery of royalties from foreign companies that exceed 10 billion Libyan dinars. It was stated in their statement that they appreciate the institution’s commitment to improving financial transparency.”
He wondered, “if the NOC’s Head has transparency, how can he withhold billions? If one of the Officials of these five countries had done that, he would have been imprisoned.”
