Turkish Energy and Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said that his country will continue oil exploration activities in Libya and plans to cooperate with the Tripoli-based Oil Corporation.
Oil and natural resources that Libya enjoys “must be used first to develop Libya and achieve prosperity for its people,” Dönmez added in press statements, but did not specify how that can be achieved, what role and relationship Turkey has to Libya’ oil and natural resources.
The Man-made River Authority (MMRA) said it will cut off water supplies to consumers in Tripoli to conduct repair and maintenance work, in order to equip and restart the pumping station in Tarhouna city.
The MMRA said in a statement on Facebook that water service will be restored to the capital by Friday via the middle feeding line, as work is in progress to upgrade this route in order to enhance its performance.
In a phone call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said the political movements are “not initiatives to find a solution to the crisis, but rather maneuvers aimed only at finding roles for specific figures.”
He stressed the urgent necessity of lifting the suspension of oil sites and resuming oil production, saying that “the repeated closure losses over the past years exceeded a quarter of a trillion dollars.”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a report presenting the findings of DTM Round 30 (March – April 2020) data collection, in which at least 625,638 migrants from over 44 countries of origin were identified in Libya.
The majority of migrants (67%) were from neighbouring countries, especially Niger (128,953 migrants), Chad (102,725 migrants), Egypt (102,700 migrants) and Sudan (75,967 migrants).
The substantial presence of migrants from neighbouring countries reflects the important influence of historical ties between communities across the Libyan borders and the role of geographical proximity in determining the dynamics of migration to Libya.
The National Center for Disease Control analyzed on Wednesday, July 01, 788 blood samples. The center confirmed that 738 samples have tested negative for Covid-19 and 50 others tested positive, bringing the country’s total to 874.
The center confirmed that 14 patients have recovered from the disease and one patient has died.
There are now 223 recovered cases and a total of 25 deaths
The Ministry of Finance of the Government of National Accord (GNA), announced today that permission had been received from the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) to disburse salaries of government employees in the country, for the month of June 2020.
NOC has denied that a new revenue distribution mechanism is under discussion at the current negotiations.
“We categorically deny all the rumors about opening new accounts and distributing those revenues to three regions and percentages for that distribution,” NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said.
The demands on both sides were unlikely to lead to long-term stability and production would continue to be sporadic and limited, said Iliasse Sdiqui, associate director at Whispering Bell, a risk management company covering Libya.
“The demands by the eastern tribes to resume production under a new revenue-sharing scheme, regardless of how genuine, will be perceived by the GNA and western region as political coercion to introduce reforms,” he added.
“The GNA will continue to exert pressure by maintaining force majeure. Some exports may be allowed under US pressure, but overall production will be sporadic and limited.”
A Turkish business delegation is set to visit Libya within the next two weeks to assess how Turkish companies and banks can help rebuild the war-torn country and secure its energy needs, two people familiar with the plan told Reuters Wednesday.
Ankara has made increasingly clear its ambitions for lasting cooperation with Tripoli on oil exploration, construction, banking and manufacturing after its military support helped the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) reverse a 15-month offensive.
The sources said politicians could join the upcoming trip by what they called a “committee” of business representatives.
They will craft a business plan and initially focus on meeting Libya’s energy needs and rebuilding and renewing its infrastructure, the Turkish official and industry official said.
The power cuts in the country and solutions to meet the rising demand were said to be among the topics discussed during the meeting last month.
Karadeniz Holding, Turkish operator of floating electricity plants, known as powerships, last week said it is preparing a bid to supply up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Libya and will submit it soon.
Before Turkey officially threw its support behind the GNA, Turkish builders had worked on projects in Libya. The backlog of Turkish contract work there amounts to $16 billion, a sector official said in January.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Wednesday that force majeure continued on oil exports pending any reopening of the ports by the Petroleum Facilities Guard after a six-month blockade by eastern forces in the civil war.
However it said in a statement that it has instructed operating companies to call employees into work to prepare for a resumption of maintenance work and output, and that a tanker is approaching Sidra port ready to load crude.
The Mayor of Central Tripoli, Abdel-Raouf Beit Al-Mal, said during his televised interview for Libyan WTV channel and Tabadul Platform that the long-hour power cuts is a sad story that they have been living for years, and it keeps getting worse year by year.
Beit Al-Mal added that Tripoli is the most affected area, especially Central Tripoli, considering that it is full of buildings in conjunction with high temperatures leading to greater suffering.
The guest stated that several meetings were organized with GECOL’s officials who discussed several issues, made promises and suggested proposals.
“According to GECOL, facilities in Libya can help to produce 10,000 megawatts, and this great number is more than enough,” he said.
In conclusion, the mayor of Central Tripoli expressed his support for the peaceful demonstrations, stressing that he associates himself with the protestors concerning the ongoing power outages in the city.
