UN Extends Sanctions Mandate Over Illegal Oil Sales From Libya

The United Nations Security Council voted to extend until February 15, 2020 the mandate of the Panel of Experts who oversee the sanctions targeting the illicit export of crude oil and refined products from Libya.

The Security Council—which adopted a resolution by 13 votes in favor and none against, with abstentions from Russia and China—underlined that the primary responsibility of the Government of National Accord (GNA) is taking appropriate action to prevent the illicit export of petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya. 

The UN Security Council “condemns attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya, including by parallel institutions which are not acting under the authority of the Government of National Accord,” it said in a statement.

At a meeting with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) earlier this month, the chairman of the UN Security Council Libyan Sanctions Committee, Olof Skoog, confirmed the UN’s commitment to prevent and stop illegal exports and sales of Libyan crude oil and refined products, NOC said in a statement on November 1.

Discussing the security situation in southern Libya on Sunday, NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla “affirmed that NOC will work with the United Nations and the international community to prosecute all individuals and parties who attempt to blackmail or exploit the oil sector, calling for the issuance of sanctions against perpetrators and their exclusion from the political process. The chairman stressed the importance of protecting the oil sector from political and regional conflicts, and from individual criminal intent,” NOC said.

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Libya’s oil production has been steadily rising over the past two months, following severe production and export disruptions in June and July, when armed groups attacked the eastern oil ports in Libya, forcing a large part of Libya’s oil production to shut in and NOC to declare a force majeure for several weeks.

In August, production recovered to average 950,000 bpd, while Libya’s production in September further jumped by 103,000 bpd to average 1.053 million bpd, OPEC said in its October Monthly Oil Market Report.

As of the end of September, Libya’s oil production hit its highest level since 2013, NOC’s Sanalla said, adding that if the security situation in the country improves, production could further rise from the recent 1.278 million bpd.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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