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European Union Ambassadors support the National Oil Corporation and emphasize the necessity of its neutrality and keeping it away from any political tensions
The National Oil Corporation (NOC)’s Chairman of the Board Eng. Mustafa Sanalla received His Excellency the Ambassador and Head of the European Union Mission to Libya and Their Excellency Ambassadors of European Union States (Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Finland, Poland Netherlands and Hungary) on Saturday 10 October 2020 at NOC headquarters (Sareer Hall) in Tripoli.
At the beginning of the meeting Chairman of the Board Eng. Mustafa Sanalla welcomed the Ambassadors expressing his gratefulness for the support that the European Union countries provide to the National Oil Corporation. He started the meeting by illustrating the activities of the National Oil Corporation at this stage, as being the backbone of the Libyan economy, and the maintenance operations currently conducted in some fields in addition to the gradual resumption of production operations in the oil locations and fields concurrently with the improvement of security and logistics situations in those fields, insuring the safety of oil sector workers in the first place as well as to preserve the petroleum installations which represent the Libyan people’s wealth.
For their part, the European Union Ambassadors expressed their appreciation for the great effort that the National Oil Corporation has been exerting throughout the past years by maintaining the production rates to support the national economy despite of the difficult circumstances that face the State of Libya. They also commended the leadership role played by the National Oil Corporation as being the first Libyan sovereign entity that followed the principle of transparency and good governance through publishing the data of oil exports revenues in a transparent and professional way since 2018.
In this regard, the Chairman of the Board, Eng. Mustafa Sanalla, commented by saying that ‘the National Oil Corporation is the only entity responsible for the management of petroleum industry in the State of Libya in all aspects, including exploration, production, refining, manufacturing, exporting and marketing pursuant to the applicable Libyan laws and legislations. The Oil Sector employs about 65,000 employees including engineers, technicians and specialists in different fields related to petroleum industry. They present the entire spectrum of the Libyan people from all over Libya. We have huge petroleum relationships with the main European oil companies. By restoring stability to the oil sector, all the region’s countries will maintain their stability including the European Union countries as Libya have had strong economic relationships with these countries for 500 years. We confirm that we must keep the NOC away from any political conflicts because it is the backbone of the Libyan economy and the only resource of income. The oil revenues must be managed in a fair and equitable manner for all in a way that ensures a decent life for the Libyan people and the next generations.’
He continued ‘by restoring stability to Libya, we will all be able to get through many big challenges and obstacles including the illegal immigration issue. We also need the European Union support in this respect, particularly the return of security and economic stability to our beloved Libyan south by securing the southern borders.’
At the end of the meeting, the European Union Ambassadors stressed their full and unlimited support to the National Oil Corporation in order to improve the sector and return the production process to its normal levels in a way that reflects on all aspects of life all over Libya without any exception.
