The Ministry of Finance of the Government of National Accord (GNA), announced that permission had been received on Monday from the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) to disburse salaries of government employees in the country, for the month of September 2020, in the next few days.
Libya’s NOC announced the lifting of force majeure Tuesday, September 22, 2020, and the operator of the Zueitina Oil Company has been instructed to initiate production arrangements.
It is worth noting that Zueitina Oil Company is the main supplier of LPG and also an important source for the coastline system, which enables the rest of the operators to supply the North Benghazi and Zueitina power plants with gas, which alleviates the suffering of the people in the greater city of Benghazi and its suburbs and provides clean and regular natural gas.
The ports of Hariga, Brega, and Zueitina are therefore classified as safe ports. The remaining oil fields and ports are being evaluated according to the safety and security standards in force in the national oil sector.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported oil, gas and condensates export revenues of USD38.2 million in July 2020, a hugely damaging drop compared to USD2.1 billion in July 2019. This is the lowest one-month revenue figure recorded this year. NOC registered USD 24.7 million from sales of crude oil, USD12.8 million from gas and condensate sales, and USD 647,346 from sales of petrochemicals.
In August, NOC registered a modest rise in revenues after a brief and limited cessation of the blockade allowed it to ship a quantity of crude oil from the storage tanks of Es Sider port. In consequence, it reported revenue of just over USD90 million compared to USD 2.0 billion in August 2019. NOC registered USD 74.4 million from sales of crude oil, USD 14.7 million from gas and condensate sales, and USD 829,204 from sales of petrochemicals.
To date, the blockade has cost Libya almost USD 10 billion, a devastating loss most especially during this period of national crisis.
During a televised interview for Libyan WTV channel and Tabadul Platform, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Muhammad Haythem, stressed that the campaign against the Ministry of Health might be targeting his own person, or targeting the Presidential Council.
In response to the charges of infringement against him, Haythem expressed surprise about using this term, while denying the existence of any infringement in any way, considering that it is legally and scientifically impossible.
As far as the monopolization of deliveries is concerned, the deputy minister said this issue is totally unacceptable.
He added that most existing equipment used in the health sector is older than 12 years, stressing that the purchase of equipment coming from small traders or unknown companies will not be permitted.
“For medicines and supplies, we have dealt with 72 companies, the fact that denies Charges of monopolization.” he said.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health said that he was subjected to an assassination attempt.
“Following an official meeting with the Presidential Council, my convoy was subjected to gunfire, which killed 3 of my companions… Infact, the car received 58 armor-piercing gunshots… An Incident Report was filed… The matter was referred to the relevant authorities.”
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday after an industry group reported an unexpected rise in U.S. crude inventories, renewing concerns about fuel demand that caused a steep selloff earlier in the week.
In Libya, the National Oil Company expects oil output to rise to more than 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) by next week, it said on Tuesday.
The NOC said it was restarting exports from the Zueitinia oil terminal after checking the security situation at the port and fields that pipe crude there.
An escalation in the country’s conflict led to a blockade of facilities, which is now easing, although analysts say they don’t expect Libya to reach the 1.2 million bpd of production it was pumping previously.
In support of the Libyan authorities’ efforts throughout the country to combat Covid-19, the Sustainable Development Department of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) is utilising its clinics complex in Shura, Kufra, as a health isolation centre for the region.
The Sustainable Development Department has provided the centre with two respirators, as well as equipment and supplies for protection against Coronavirus.
European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to impose economic sanctions on two individuals and three companies accused of breaking a U.N. arms embargo on Libya, two diplomats said.
The two individuals are Libyans and the companies are based in Turkey, Jordan and Kazakhstan, in the maritime and aviation sectors, the diplomats said.
A number of faculties at Bani Walid University have resumed classes and final exams for the first semester after six months of suspension due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country.
The Director of the Follow-up Office at Bani Walid University, Abdullah Al-Mutaa, said that the resumption of classes was in accordance with the precautionary Convid-19 measures including social distancing.
He added that the administration of the university had formed a committee to follow up the application of the precautionary measures, which includes specialized faculty members, to submit a daily report containing all observations.
The German Sea-Eye volunteer organization rescued 114 migrants from two ships stranded off the Libyan coast, according to the organization’s website.
The rescue boat first lifted 90 people from the “overloaded rubber boat” and then lifted another 24 people aboard from the fishing boat.
According to volunteers, eight of those rescued were children, and eight were women, one of whom was pregnant.
Mike Muller, director of oil business development and head of trading at Vitol Asia, said the resumption of oil exports in libya is not so certain due to the conflict between the LNA and GNA and the continued presence of militants at oil facilities, according to energy and commodities information and a source Global Platts.
“We have seen this talk of force majeures being lifted many, many times before,” Muller told a Gulf Intelligence webinar on Sept. 20. “For as long as the key facilities both producing in the desert and the ports are occupied by mercenaries and forces that are not aligned with the GNA, it is not a given that this means we’re going to see production in Libya go from less than 100,000 to more than 1.2 million b/d.”