On Sunday, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed that oil revenues will not be transferred into the Central Bank of Libya’s (CBL) account. The company explained that they will be deposited in its accounts at the Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB).
In a statement, the NOC said that the oil revenues will not be transferred to the CBL account, until it publicly announces its policy regarding the mechanism for disbursing these revenues. It noted that putting all oil revenues in the NOC’s accounts at the LFB is temporary, until a comprehensive political settlement is reached. This is in order to ensure fair distribution of revenues among all cities in Libya
The NOC’s announcement came in response to the CBL’s statement regarding public revenues for the period from 1st January to 31st October. According to the CBL, the NOC’s data on oil revenues for this period was “inaccurate.”
Recent data issued by the CBL revealed a deficit in oil revenues for this period estimated at 2.6 billion Libyan dinars. On Thursday, the CBL announced a shortfall of $7.3 billion in foreign receipts for the same period. This is a result of the blockade that was imposed on the country’s oilfields from January to September 2020, and which reduced oil production from 1.2 million barrels daily to just 100,000. According to the CBL, the deficit has been covered with withdrawals from its foreign exchange reserves.
In a revenue and expenditure report published for the first ten months of 2020, the CBL said that, “Total foreign exchange revenues reached $3.8 billion including $2.051 billion for oil exports in 2020.”
Direct loss from the cessation of oil production and exports during the same period amounted to about $11 billion, while total oil revenue amounted to 5.271 billion dinars (about $3.819 billion).