The head of Libya’s state energy company rejected an attempt by the OPEC nation’s oil minister to have him suspended and the board disbanded.
“The minister of oil cannot legally suspend me from work or refer me to investigation,” Mustafa Sanalla, the long-standing chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corp., said during an interview in his office in Tripoli on Monday. “The cabinet is the decision-maker and has the final word on the NOC.”
The interview came days after Oil Minister Mohamed Oun said Sanalla should step aside for an alleged “violation” of rules regarding business travel. While Sanalla said the dispute would not affect Libya’s crude production, it underscores the political tensions in a country that’s been mired in conflict and civil war for much of the past decade.
“The minister of oil or anyone else cannot question the legitimacy of the NOC’s board of directors,” said Sanalla, who’s been chairman since 2014. “I have no problem if a decision is issued to change the board of directors of the NOC through the cabinet.”
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