On Saturday, a team of Libyan economic experts sent a detailed memorandum to the Libyan Parliament and the High Council of State (HCS) regarding the “legal violations of the oil exploration agreement signed between the Government of National Unity (GNU) and Turkey.”
They stressed that the deal “includes binding provisions that place the Libyan state in semi-permanent obligations, according to which Turkey shares Libyan resources now and in the future, which harms the national economy.”
The experts added that the deal “imposes a burden upon the state to keep an open commitment to the partnership agreement with Turkey.”
They added that when Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba was selected by members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Geneva as Prime minister, “he was not granted the right to consider any agreements.” They confirmed that “this makes the signing of this agreement contradictory in form and substance in terms of the powers granted by the Geneva Forum.”
The experts affirmed that the agreement “violated the State Audit Bureau law in controlling public funds. As well as the state finance law of 2008 regarding the management of state funds.”
The team explained that Article 5 of the agreement violated the Oil Law of 1955 regarding “resolving any disputes amicably through consultation and negotiation, as it denied the Libyan state’s right to resort to justice and arbitration. The agreement also violates Law No. 69 of 1970 on limiting the import, sale, and distribution activity for petroleum products to the National Oil Corporation (NOC), in addition to the agreement’s violation of the principle of gradual legislation.”
Last month, Libya and Turkey signed a series of economic agreements that included potential energy exploration in maritime areas.
The agreements will allow for oil and gas exploration in Libyan waters, and come three years after the two countries signed a maritime border deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said after signing the MoU in Tripoli.
The EU last month said the deal infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states, and doesn’t comply with the United Nations Law of the Sea.
The Greek Foreign Ministry has said in a statement that it is following developments in Libya very closely, “especially the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the GNU and Turkey in the field of hydrocarbons.”
An Egyptian-Greek statement added that Greece “holds sovereign rights in the area, which it intends to defend by all legal means, in full respect to the International Law of the Sea.”
Libya, home to Africa’s largest crude oil reserves and a member of OPEC, has largely been wracked by chaos since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.
