June 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The prime minister of the Libyan parallel administration in the east of the country, Osama Hamad, has warned this weekend that he could order the suspension of activities in the main oil and gas fields in the region in retaliation for a new dispute with the recognized government of Tripoli on the distribution of the benefits of crude oil.
Hamad, specifically, has accused the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of signing an agreement with the Government of National Unity in the Libyan capital whereby Tripoli, a rival to the administration in the east of the country, would have the ability to “seize” about 16,000 million dollars (about 15,700 million euros) in benefits derived from oil.
In response, the prime minister of eastern Libya warned this past Saturday to declare a state of force majeure and prohibit crude oil exports, according to the ‘Libya Observer’ portal.
Hamad has also expressed his intention to request “judicial custody” of the aforementioned funds to prevent “their manipulation.”
The portal recalls that the Benghazi Court of Appeals, in the east of the country, rejected in January an appeal by the NOC against the decision of the eastern government to confiscate the accounts of the organization in the east of the country.
“This situation will remain unchanged until the necessary legal procedures are completed,” the Benghazi government warned in a statement that also called on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to “carry out its work without partisanship and to clarify what happens with all this money that is being wasted.
