In response to calls from the House of Representatives, the High Council of State and some other countries, Head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, retracted on Friday his resignation which was scheduled at the end of October.
The GNA in a statement said Sarraj has received several requests to stay in his post longer to avoid a “political vacuum”, including from “leaders in friendly countries”, UN officials and civil society groups.
It will be reminded that Al-Sarraj had in September announced he would step down in October and transfer power to a new government that would have been formed from the ongoing dialogue from the rival parties.
Libyan oil production currently stands at 680,000 barrels per day, a Libyan oil source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) on Monday ended force majeure on the last facilities closed by an eight-month blockade of oil exports by eastern forces.
The Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanallah, inaugurated on Friday the Sinoun oil field in Nalut, west of the country.
Sanallah said that “Sinoun is considered the first field to be developed after the revolution of the 17th of February 2011, as part of the corporation’s plan to increase Libyan oil production”.
He explained that the field will initially produce 10,000 thousand barrels of crude oil per day until it is developed to reach its maximum production capacity of 50,000 thousand barrels per day.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced today that the newly established joint operating company Sarir Oil Operations (SOO) will assume operatorship on the Contract Areas 91 and 107 (previously 96 and 97) which used to be operated by the German company Wintershall. The SOO was recently established as a joint-venture company owned by the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Wintershall Company (WIAG).
An EPSA Agreement was signed as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was approved in 2010. The National Oil Corporation then commenced negotiations with Wintershall Company to implement this Memorandum of Understanding. These negotiations took thirty months of continuous discussions and finally reached a successful version of EPSA on December 12, 2019.
Operations during the last few months were under the supervision of Wintershall for the purpose of finalizing the official establishment and registration requirements of Sarir Oil Operations. By this date most of the employees were transferred to Sarir Oil Operations in order to continue conducting the Company’s activity.
On this occasion, Eng. Mustafa Sanalla, NOC Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated that it was our pleasure to see the launch of Sarir Oil Operations business which will be added to the existing operating companies in the oil and gas sector. He added, “we would also like to thank and congratulate all who contributed to finalizing this work under these difficult circumstances that our country goes through. We wish the Company all the best in performing its business as stipulated in the frame of EPSA Agreement.”
Libya has witnessed a 22% increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 over the past two weeks. More than 5% of samples have tested positive since the last update, while the number of deaths has declined.
Under WHO’s transmission scenarios, Libya remains classified as “community transmission”.
Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Libya on 24 March 2020, a total of 57 975 people have been infected with the virus.
All four designated isolation centres in the south remain closed because of shortages of staff, PPE, equipment and supplies. A temporary isolation facility has been opened in the respiratory clinic in Sebha.
During the meeting of the head of Fuel Crisis Committee, Mohammad Fathallah, on Tuesday, with the directors of the operations departments of some oil services companies, the head of the committee emphasized the necessity of limiting the fuel and gas trade in the parallel market to ensure that it reaches citizens with sufficient daily needs.
He also stressed the need to organize the work of distribution stations in all regions.
The Sirte Oil and Gas Company announced on Thursday, that the daily production of crude oil has reached more than 80,000 barrels from five fields (Zilten, Al-Laheeb, Al-Raqoubah, Al-Wadi and Al-Jabal).
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Masoud Suleiman Musa, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to all workers in at their production sites, indicating that a bonus was granted to the company’s workers within the month of October’s salaries.
The High Council of State urged the head of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, to stay on Thursday until a new presidential council is selected in order to avoid a political vacuum and for Libya’s stability.
“His calling came in view of the circumstances the country is going through at this time and the direction of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum,” Libya Al Ahrar TV quoted Chairman of the High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri as saying.
The parliament in Tripoli also called on Al-Sarraj to postpone his intention to hand over power at the end October because of “reasons of higher interest.”
Al-Sarraj announced in September his “sincere desire” to hand over duties to the next executive authority in a period that will not exceed October.
Libya’s Government of National Accord declared Thursday, October 29, an official holiday in the country to mark Eid-el-Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed PBUH.
A sudden storm hit a number of neighborhoods in Tripoli on Tuesday evening uprooting palm trees and causing damage to a number of public roads and private property.
Accompanied by massive chunks of ice, the storm caused the uprooting of many palm trees, resulting in their falling on public roads, bringing about damage to a number of private properties.
The Ports and Maritime Transport Authority said on Tuesday that a merchant ship has run aground in the port of Tripoli as it was forced off-course due to bad weather in the face of a sudden storm in Tripoli.
The Authority added that the port administration declared a state of emergency and the temporary suspension of all shipping vessels until an improvement in the weather and stabilization.
“Strong storm caused damage to containers and the severance of vessels from their moorings. Container ship Lady Haloum currently stranded.” Head of the Port of Tripoli told Tabadul.
