Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) has put forward a proposal to replace Mustafa Sanalla, the long-serving chairman of state-owned oil firm NOC, with Farhat ben Gudara, according to sources inside and outside the company.
The proposal is part of a broader overhaul of NOC's board, which GNU prime minister Abdelhamid Dbeibeh approved on 23 June at the request of his oil minister Mohamed Aoun.
Libyan sources say Sanalla's replacement could be confirmed after the Eid al-Adha festivities. NOC has not responded to a request for comment.
It remains to be seen whether the GNU can implement the decision, given its legitimacy is contested by the rival Government of National Stability (GNS), which is backed by Libya's legislative body the House of Representatives (HoR). Aoun has repeatedly sought and failed to replace Sanalla, who has been at the helm of NOC since 2014.
If the appointment is confirmed by the GNU but rejected by NOC, Libya could once more be faced with a splintering of its critical economic institutions and return to having two national oil companies in place. Sanalla's Tripoli-based NOC has previously fought for control of Libya's oil and gas sector with Benghazi-based contender NOC East. Critically, Argus understands that NOC's revenues currently go into Libya's Central Bank and onward to Dbeibeh's finance ministry.
Civil unrest has led to a fresh wave oil blockades in Libya since the middle of April, pushing Libyan crude output down to just 600,000 b/d last month, according to Argus estimates. The protesters' demands have varied, ranging from fair and even distribution of NOC's revenues across Libyan regions to a transfer of power from Dbeibeh to GNS prime minister Fathi Bashagha and Sanalla's dismissal.
