The Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Aoun, commented toour source on the letter of the Acting Chairman of the National Oil Corporation to the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity regarding his request to redevelop Block NC7 in the Hamada field. He clarified that the letter is addressed directly to the Prime Minister, and the Corporation is under the authority of the Minister of Oil and Gas and should not bypass him, as this is the law. He added that the letter bears no copy to anyone, not even to the members of the Corporation’s Board of Directors.
Aoun added that the Ministry of Oil objected to this matter when it was raised at the beginning of 2023 and issued several memorandums to all the concerned bodies of the Libyan state.
He continued: “The Libyan House of Representatives issued Resolution No. 15 of 2023 prohibiting entering into new contracts regarding oil and other resources or amending the list, and the Attorney General suspended negotiations regarding the Hamada field.”
He also said: “The Oil Experts’ Report recommended self-development, and the committee formed by Mr. Abdulhamid himself also recommended self-development and included some oil experts. In April 2022, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision authorizing the Ministry of Oil and Gas to establish a body to develop the Hamada field and the Al-‘Arus Al-Bahr field. Unfortunately, no decision was issued by the Council of Ministers despite the Ministry’s follow-ups with the government.”
Aoun explained that if the Ministry’s recommendation had been taken, these fields would now be in production, and the state would not be suffering from a shortage of fuel, while the Corporation laments the shortage of gas but does not adhere to the recommendations of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, which is the expert authority in this field.
The Minister of Oil concluded his comment by saying: The development of this field will require some time and will not be sufficient to cover domestic consumption and exports. He added that the Libyan House of Representatives allocated a budget of six billion LYD for the development of this field by its reference letter M. Sh. R 2024.622 dated 6-5-2024.
