Libya

13 July 2022; MEMO: Libya's Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) moved to replace the National Oil Corp (NOC) chairman and board yesterday, Reuters reports.

According to the text of the decision confirmed to Reuters by a GNU official, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah will replace veteran NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla with Farhat Bengdara, the central bank governor before Libya's 2011 revolution.

27 June 2022; MEMO: Libya's state oil company said it may suspend exports from the Gulf of Sirte, which contains many of the OPEC member's main ports, in the next three days amid a worsening political crisis, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the National Oil Corp said it could declare force majeure, a clause in contracts allowing shipments to be halted within 72 hours, according to a statement on Monday.

The Gulf of Sirte includes the exports terminals of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega and Zueitina.

14 June 2022; MEMO: Libya's oil output is 100,000-150,000 barrels per day (bpd), a spokesman for the Oil Ministry said on Tuesday, and a fraction of normal levels due to the shutdown of production and export facilities as a tactic in the country's political stalemate, Reuters reports.

Libyan oil output last year was more than 1.2 million bpd and the reduced production adds to the pressure on markets already squeezed by tight supply elsewhere.

10 May 2022; MEMO: The United Nations' Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, yesterday called for the reopening of the country's oilfields "as soon as possible."

"I met with Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) Chairman Engineer Mustafa Sanallah today in Tripoli. During our meeting, we discussed the national and international impact of the oil shutdown, including the infrastructure difficulties that ensue in the instance of a prolonged shutdown," Williams said on Twitter.

TRIPOLI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Libya has condemned the deadly attack on a water pumping station in Egypt's western Sinai region, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

Libya stands with Egypt "against anything that threatens its security and stability," the Libyan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Saturday, at least 11 Egyptian troops were killed in clashes with a group of terrorists at a water pumping station in western Sinai, according to the Egyptian army.

28 April 2022; MEMO: The United States called on Libyan leaders, on Wednesday, to work "immediately" to end the closure of oil installations. It considered the suspension of production as a hasty measure that harms the Libyans and undermines international trust toward Libya as an actor in the global economy.

TRIPOLI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Libyan authorities have arrested 541 illegal migrants in the city of Misurata, some 250 km east of the capital Tripoli, as they were attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea towards Europe.

The migrants were arrested at the shore and taken to the Tariq al-Matar reception center in Tripoli, where they will receive humanitarian assistance before being deported to their home countries, said Abdussalam Alewan, director of the center.

25 April 2022; MEMO: Libya's Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister by the eastern-based parliament last month, has called on the residents of the Oil Crescent region to resume oil exports.

Bashagha yesterday met with representatives of the Oil Crescent Region, which extends from Tobruk in the east to the Gulf of Sidra west, and includes the largest oil fields as well as ports.

21 April 2022; MEMO: The Prime Minister of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has again refused to hand over power until a new government has been put together after a General Election. The alternative government backed by the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives is "born dead," he insists.

17 April 2022; MEMO: Libya halted oil production from its El Feel oilfield on Sunday and two sources at Zueitina oil port said exports there had been suspended after protesters calling for Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah to resign took over the sites, Reuters reports.