Western officials, pitching an oil revenue agreement as a win for Libyans, hope it can be used as a springboard toward a wider political settlement. Their intensified diplomacy with rival Libyan factions is making progress toward a settlement to share oil revenues and bring back production, which was halved in April. The Russia angleYet behind the renewed American and Western focus on Libya is simmering competition with Moscow. Oil revenue sharingFor weeks, U.S. diplomats led by Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland have been meeting Libyan officials and factions, who are broadly divided between eastern and western Libya but also have individual interests, to help hammer out an oil revenue agreement. Western officials are quick to point out that 2.8 million Libyans registered for the derailed 2021 elections, highlighting a hunger for democracy.

Source: Libya Today May 13, 2022 16:16 UTC