Head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation resigns

The head Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC), Farhat Bengdara, has resigned due to “health issues,” and Masoud Sulaiman has been appointed as acting chief, the state oil company said on Thursday.

The Government of National Unity’s head, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, accepted Bengdara’s resignation and appointed Sulaiman pending the formation of a new board of directors at the next cabinet meeting, NOC added in a statement.

Bengdara was appointed in July 2022 to replace veteran NOC chief Mustafa Sanallah.

The NOC runs the technical sector of oil and gas production, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, in OPEC member Libya, which is the third largest oil producer in North Africa.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya’s oil production has been repeatedly hit by groups blocking facilities, sometimes to demand material benefits but also as a tactic to achieve wider political ends.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, with Yemen’s Houthi militia expected to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and investors weighed strong US retail data.