Libya Preparing to Restart Oil Output as Central Bank Crisis Eases

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Libya Preparing to Restart Oil Output as Central Bank Crisis Eases

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. (Reuters)

Libya was preparing to restart oil production that has been shut since late of August after an agreement on a new head of the central bank was reached, two oilfield engineers told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We are now waiting for orders from the Corporation (the state oil firm) to resume production at its normal levels after a month-long stoppage," said an engineer from the Jalu 59 oilfield.

An engineer from the El-Feel oilfield said they took advantage of the almost one-month closure to carry out maintenance.

National production and export operations were stopped in August when the parallel government in eastern Libya declared the closure of oil facilities in a protest of the ousting of veteran Central Bank of Libya (CBL) governor Sadiq Kabir by the Presidential Council in Tripoli.

A new CBL governor, Naji Mohamed Issa Belgasem, and his deputy, Mari Muftah Rahil Barrasi were approved on Monday by the two legislative bodies; the east-based House of Representatives in Benghazi and High State Council in Tripoli.

Belgasem and Barrasi took an oath before parliament on Tuesday during a televised session.

Libya's National Oil Corporation said on Aug. 28 that oil production had dropped by more than half of typical levels. It has not made public any new production figures since then.

Libya's oil output has been disrupted repeatedly in the chaotic decade since the country divided in 2014 between two administrations in its east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Moammar al-Gaddafi in 2011.



Iraqi PM Rejects Foreign Calls to Dismantle PMF

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
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Iraqi PM Rejects Foreign Calls to Dismantle PMF

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed his rejection of “foreign dictates or pressure” calling for the dismantling of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

Speaking to state television, he said the PMF was turned into a state institution according to a 2014 law that was ratified by parliament.

“It is unacceptable to make demands and impose conditions on Iraq, especially when it comes to dismantling the PMF,” he declared.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had stirred controversy during a meeting with Sudani earlier this month when he called for dismantling the PMF and other armed factions.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi security and defense committee urged the recruitment of more soldiers to the army as Baghdad warily eyes the developments in Syria in wake of the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Iraq is bracing for a possible fallout from the ouster on its own country, especially with the possibility of the reemergence of the ISIS terrorist group.

The Defense Ministry is in need of 25,000 to 30,000 recruits, said the security and defense committee, noting that no new members have been recruited since 2017.

Sudani said his government was assessing the situation in neighboring Syria and will take the necessary measures as developments unfold there.

He stressed the need to help the Syrian people run their country’s affairs without any foreign meddling or infringement on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.