NOC Chairman discusses illegal oil blockade with Italian Foreign Minister
National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Eng. Mustafa Sanalla met with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and an accompanying high-level delegation from the Italian Government in Tripoli on Tuesday 1 September 2020 to discuss the Libyan oil and gas sector and ways to enhance cooperation between Libya and Italy in this area.
Sanalla expressed NOC’s appreciation of Italian efforts to help lift the illegal oil blockade and find a political solution to the Libyan crisis. The NOC Chairman stressed that the ongoing conflict in Libya is between parties which support the rule of the law and the democratic process and those which do not.
Mr Di Maio praised NOC efforts to preserve the unity of Libya and its oil sector. He thanked NOC for its continued neutrality and attempts to support economic recovery in Libya. Affirming Italy’s support for NOC calls for the resumption of production and the export of Libyan oil, the Foreign Minister also voiced support for the freezing of revenues in NOC’s account held in the Libyan Foreign Bank.
Mr Di Maio acknowledged that financial transparency and the urgent restoration of security at all of NOC’s facilities were preconditions for re-starting the economy. Accordingly, he demanded the immediate withdrawal of mercenaries and other armed groups from oil facilities across Libya.
The two sides also discussed the negative role played by some foreign countries in Libya which had led to the continued absence of Libyan oil from the global energy markets. The common interests that bind Libya and Italy in the oil sector were explored and emphasised.
The meeting was attended by Mr Manlio Di Stefano, Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Mr Giuseppe Buccino, Italian ambassador to Libya; Mrs Elisabetta Belloni, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Mr Ettore Francesco Sequi, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Mr Sebastiano Cardi, Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Mr Augusto Rubei spokesman of the Italian Foreign Affairs Minister; Mr Stefano Bovara from the Italian Embassy; Mr Giovanni Caravelli, Director at Presidency of the Council of Ministers; in addition to Mr Gianluca Fratini, Mr Salvatore Colella and Mr Raffaele Manna from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.