Libya’s Ministry of Oil announced that it has deposited 26.4 billion Libyan dinars into the State treasury, since 15 March 2021.
In a statement, the ministry explained that the revenues are the result of monitoring and accounting for foreign oil companies, and collecting taxes, fees, and rents.
It outlined two specific instances of revenue deposits. The first was a deposit of 10 billion Libyan dinars, that had been withheld by three foreign companies, ConocoPhillips, Hess, and TotalEnergies, since October 2020 until January 2022.
This was done by the former Chairman of the National of Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla without legal justification, and resulted in a loss of approximately 250 million Libyan dinars in interest for the Libyan state. Despite the ministry’s numerous notifications to responsible authorities, no action has been taken against those responsible.
The second deposit was for 15.7 billion Libyan dinars, which was held by the Ministry’s General Directorate of Accounting for companies, since 12 December 2022. The delay in delivering the deposit was due to Sanalla’s refusal to comply with requests, until he was removed from his position in July 2022.
The revenue was eventually deposited into the state treasury, after the General Directorate of Accounting joined the Ministry of Oil.
Notably, the NOC revealed on Thursday that crude oil production reached 1.208 million barrels per day, and condensates hit 49,000 barrels per day in the past 24 hours.
The NOC announced that total domestic consumption of natural gas amounted to 1.208 billion cubic feet, over the past 24 hours. These figures provide an overview of the significant activities within the oil and gas sector, painting a picture of an industry that is maintaining high levels of production and consumption.
The Corporation explained that the General Electricity Company’s (GECOL) consumption reached 1.009 million cubic feet, with the NOC producing 125 million cubic feet. It added that the Iron and Steel Complex and other small factories consumed 67 million cubic feet, and cement factories consumed a further 7 million cubic feet.