24 June – 30 June: NOC confirms ongoing negotiations to resume oil production

Jul 2, 2020 | Libyan actors

On 29 June, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed that there have been ongoing negotiations to resume oil production over the past few weeks between the Government of National Accord (GNA), the NOC and regional countries, under the supervision of the UN and the US. The NOC said it is ‘hopeful’ that those regional countries will lift the blockade, allowing NOC to resume its work. The NOC said in its statement that it is determined that the agreement will ‘guarantee transparency and that oil revenues will achieve social justice for all Libyans,’ adding that it intends that the agreement will include solutions to protect the oil facilities and make sure they are never used as a military target or a political bargaining chip again.

The same day, the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of Libyan Sheikhs & Elders, Sheikh al-Senussi al-Haleeq, announced their demands for ending the oil shutdown, as part of the international negotiations referred to by the NOC. Haleeq said that they want an international bank account to be established in which all for Libya’s oil revenues will be deposited. This must be under the auspices of the UN and the revenues would then be funnelled to Libya’s three regions (East, West and South). He stressed that the revenues cannot be used for military purposes.

On 29 June, the head of the Libyan Council of Elders, Mohamed Idris al-Mogherbi, called for demonstrations on 5 July against Turkey’s foreign interference in Libya. According to media reports, Mogherbi said that Libya’s tribes would support the Libyan National Army (LNA). This was followed by a statement by the leader of the Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Elders of Libya, Mohamed al-Misbah, who reiterated tribal support for the LNA and their right to self-defence, claiming that the tribes would fight should Turkey attempt to push beyond the Sirte-Jufra ‘red line’ and would back Egyptian intervention in Libya to do so.

Over the last week there has been a continued build up by both the GNA and LNA forces west and east of Sirte respectively, but there has been little active fighting in the location over the past week.

On 28 June, the head of the LNA, Khalifa Haftar, had a meeting with Abdullah al-Thinni, the head of the eastern-based parallel government, and Abdul Hadi al-Hwaij, its Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to discuss the monitoring and documenting of human rights violations by groups in western Libya. The two parties are reported to have discussed how to enact the Cairo Declaration and move forward with the Berlin conference outcomes. Haftar is also said to have initiated discussions on international displaced people (IDPs) from western Libya and their resettlement.