An armed, masked group said to be affiliated with and acting on orders of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) has stormed the National Oil Company (NOC) in an attempt to force long-time head Mustafa Sanella out and install a new board. Following the raid on Thursday morning, Sanalla addressed the public on national television, saying that Dbeibah’s government lacks legitimacy. Dbeibah and the Libyan Oil MInistry have attempted in the past to remove Sanalla from the NOC. “As an employee in the national oil and gas sector for more than twenty years, and of my own volition, I reject this assignment. In the critical circumstances that, not only the country, but the oil sector in particular are going through, we are in dire need of preserving the unity and cohesion of the national oil sector, and adhering to the neutral, professional technical role played by the National Oil Corporation and its current management in good standing, despite the storms that it has weathered,” he added.
