Libya's internationally recognized government has appointed a new head of state National Oil Corp (NOC) handling oil exports, a deputy premier said, as a political conflict over control of the country is hitting the vital energy sector.
The embattled government, working out of a small city in the east after losing control of the capital Tripoli, officially announced the decision in a crowded Vienna hotel lobby hours before an OPEC meeting. Libyan websites had reported the news weeks ago but officials did not confirm it until now.
Libya has two governments and parliaments competing for legitimacy as turmoil grips the major oil producer three years after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
The recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni had originally confirmed NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah when it unveiled a new cabinet in September. But he is based in Tripoli where a rival cabinet and assembly has set shop.
The new chairman is Al-Mabrook Bou Seif, Thinni's deputy premier Abdelrahman al-Taher told reporters in a Vienna hotel with people drinking champagne and getting their caricatures drawn in the middle of a corporate event in the background.
"He is the NOC chairman," Taher said," without giving further details. He said Sanallah was no longer NOC chairman.
Taher said the decision, which came after the rival government had appointed an oil minister working out of the NOC headquarters, had been already made at the start of November.
He and another deputy premier were facing a barrage of questions from reporters confused who would be representing Libya at the meeting after rival oil minister Mashallah Zwai told Reuters he would come with a separate delegation.
There was no immediate sign of Zwai in Vienna. He had said late on Tuesday that he was still waiting for an invitation and visa.
Taher, not known to be an oil expert, declined to discuss OPEC polices. His colleague Mohamed Oun put oil production at 700,000 barrels a day, roughly in line what Zwai said on Tuesday.
There is little known about Bou Seif. He is from the same tribe as Ibrahim Jathran, a port rebel leader who, with thousands of armed men, seized major oil ports in the east for one year to press the government into regional autonomy.
He eventually agreed to reopen the ports in April, give the battered oil industry a welcome lift.
It is unclear how the new NOC chairman would take control of NOC based in Tripoli some 1,000 km away from the eastern government seat.
Trying to set up a new state firm would raise questions of the legality of oil exports. Both sides have so far avoided dragging NOC, which handles together with the central bank oil exports, into the political conflict as Libya depends on oil revenues.
Zwai had threatened to boycott any OPEC decision should he not be allowed to attend the Vienna meeting on Thursday.
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