Libya's National Oil Corporation has reported monthly revenues of $1.796 billion for September from oil and related product sales. The amount is a record for the company, the result of the latest oil price rally.
"Everyone is happy," NOC's chairman, Mustafa Sanalla, said. "Production rates are wonderful, and the price boom is an important and encouraging sign. We expect a significant reduction in the deficit that the public budget has suffered for the last years, and we are optimistic that financial stability will contribute to creating an investment environment, especially in the infrastructure of the national oil sector."
The troubled North African country has struggled with a challenging political situation that has affected its oil sector, but it has managed to boost production to over 1 million bpd. The latest political trouble has come from a spat between NOC and the new government, which led to the suspension of Sanalla from his post not once, but twice.
The latest suspension was announced yesterday, per a Reuters report, which cited the Libyan oil minister as saying the suspension came on allegations of administrative offenses, including "non-compliance with procedures and controls for obtaining prior permission when undertaking an official mission."
Sanalla has also acknowledged the troubled relations between NOC and the ministry.
"Despite all these good news, it must be admitted that the relationship of the National Oil Corporation with the Ministry of Oil and Gas has been marred by many problems, and these gains cannot be preserved without cooperation that is based on respect for the role of the National Oil Corporation," he said in the news release detailing the September revenues.
"We will not allow for this role to regress or for NOC's image to be distorted in the world. We adhere to the directives made by His Excellency the Prime Minister, which concluded the importance of cooperation and integration without overstepping one side on the expense of the other and predominating the public interest without selectivity or personalization of public affairs".
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More