By Yousef Saba
DUBAI (Reuters) – Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) will focus on raising its output and transparency, new acting chairman Massoud Suleman told Reuters, as Africa’s second-largest oil producer looks to recover from years of instability.
The state firm oversees oil and gas production that since the 2011 ousting of leader Muammar Gaddafi has been disrupted by violent factionalism and labour disputes.
Production plummeted several times last year amid wrangling between rival groups, including over leadership of the central bank which controls Libya’s oil revenue.
“The National Oil Corporation has a strategic plan to increase production that we will continue to implement and make any adjustments to, whenever necessary,” Suleman said in response to emailed questions.
NOC was producing about 1.4 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) at the end of 2024, according to the company, while the OPEC member country’s longer-term target is 2 million bpd.
Earlier this month, its acting oil minister, Khalifa Abdulsadek, told Reuters the country needs $3-$4 billion to reach output of 1.6 million bpd.
Suleman also said he would focus on boosting NOC’s transparency which could involve streamlining some operations, including possible office closures.
NOC fully owns 15 subsidiaries, according to its website, in addition to stakes in joint ventures and other companies it oversees.
“I will focus above all on cementing transparency inside the National Oil Corporation so that any investor, whether the Libyan state or our foreign partners, can have a high level of confidence that any money injected into the NOC will be used in the best possible way,” Suleman said.
Foreign investors are wary of putting money into Libya, which has long been split between rival factions in the east and west backed by Turkey and Russia.
“I am still working on forming a complete picture of what has been done in some companies, such as the Mediterranean Oil Services Company,” Suleman added, referring to NOC’s arm which procures equipment and other services for oilfield operations.
“I will likely move cautiously towards evaluating some branches and closing some of them… especially some of the newly established branches.”
Mediterranean Oil Services has offices in Dusseldorf, Germany, and since 2020 in Dubai. Libyan media reported that it opened an office in Istanbul last year.
Closing some offices could “make the administrative structure of the corporation simpler and easier to manage in the future,” Suleman said.
CRUDE-FOR-FUEL SWAPS
He also said he is in contact with Libya’s attorney general over a “request to stop the crude swap programme”. NOC has used crude-for-fuel swaps as an alternative funding method.
He said he would also work with the central bank and the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity to determine the “appropriate mechanism to provide a sufficient budget that ensures the country’s complete supply of refined petroleum products”.
His comments to Reuters are the first to outline the possible office closures and his first on the decision by the attorney general to halt NOC’s use of crude-for-fuel swaps.
Suleman replaced Farhat Bengdara as chairman of NOC in mid-January. Bengdara, who was appointed in July 2022, resigned due to “health issues”, NOC announced.
Despite being a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Libya is exempt from output curbs agreed by its members and allies including Russia in the so-called OPEC+ group of producers.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on the group to reduce crude prices.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; editing by Michael Georgy and Jason Neely)
