1/16/2025–|Last updated: 1/16/202511:29 PM (Mecca time)
The National Oil Corporation of Libya announced today, Thursday, that the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, approved the resignation of the Chairman of the Corporation’s Board of Directors, Farhat Ben Qaddara, as a result of emergency health conditions that prevented him from performing his duties and responsibilities optimally.
She added in a statement that Al-Dabaiba assigned Masoud Suleiman Musa, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, to assume the duties of Chairman of the Board of Directors temporarily.
The statement affirmed the corporation’s full commitment to continuing work to ensure the stability of the oil sector and enhance its role as a basic pillar of the national economy.
A source from Bin Qaddara’s office told Reuters that Bin Qaddara, who was appointed to the position in July 2022, succeeding Mustafa Sanalla, submitted his resignation to Dabaiba three times in one year because he wanted to undergo back surgery that would require rest for months and could not be postponed.
The National Oil Corporation manages the technical sector for oil and gas production, in addition to a number of smaller subsidiaries, in Libya, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the third largest oil producer in North Africa.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a popular revolution in 2011, oil production in Libya has been repeatedly affected by groups closing facilities, sometimes with the aim of seeking material benefits, and also as a means to achieve some political goals at other times.
In the middle of last month, the Corporation had declared a state of force majeure after a number of tanks at the Zawiya Refinery (west of Tripoli) were severely damaged due to clashes between armed groups in its vicinity.
From time to time, the Oil Corporation declares a state of “force majeure” in one of the oil fields spread in different regions and concentrated in the east of the country, often due to similar protest demands.
A force majeure situation is an unexpected and uncontrollable circumstance, such as natural disasters (earthquakes, floods), wars, civil unrest, or in this case: armed clashes. When such events occur, they disrupt normal activities and prevent individuals and companies from fulfilling their normal obligations.
The issue of fair distribution of oil revenues is one of the most prominent crises in Libya, as the government appointed by the House of Representatives, headed by Osama Hammad, is struggling with the internationally recognized Government of National Unity to control these revenues.
Over the past six years, severe conflicts in Libya have caused a significant decline in oil exports and delayed expansion plans that aim to raise oil production from 1,214,000 barrels per day to 2 million barrels per day.
