Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah and eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar have finished talks over the oil crisis. In place of Mustafa Sanallah, it is the former banker of the Gaddafi regime, Farhat Bengdara, who will be the director of the Libyan oil company, the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Due to the disagreement between the now former president of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanallah, and the Minister of Oil Mohamed Aoun, for several months now oil revenues - and Libya's oil production — are blocked.
Indeed, Sanallah placed himself in the camp of recently appointed Prime Minister Fathi Bachagha, and was openly supported by the outgoing US Ambassador, Richard Norland.
Since the popular uprising of July 1, the Prime Minister in office Abdel Hamid Dbeibah has started talks with eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar. Africa Intelligence then revealed that Dbeibah was mainly seeking the support of Haftar to keep his seat. Dbeibah offered Haftar "to let him choose the next boss of the national oil company".
Result, Wednesday, Dbeibah sacked Sanallah. And this Thursday, the new boss of the NOC, Farhat Bengdara, took control of the headquarters of the oil company. In a press release, Farhat Bengdara revealed that he benefited from a "consensus between all national and international parties", who would "agree on the importance of protecting the (oil, editor's note) sector from political struggle”.
US position uncertain
Asked about a potential American veto over his appointment, Farhat Bengdara said: “These concerns have been answered and everything has been clarified with foreign partners, including France. I also have contacts with the American diplomatic mission”.
But, for his part, the American ambassador, whose replacement is already planned, defended Sanallah. "The NOC, which is vital to the stability and prosperity of Libya, was politically independent under the leadership of Mustafa Sanallah," tweeted Richard Norland. And to continue: “Will Libyan leaders on all sides recognize that these developments demonstrate the urgent need for the political will to compromise, and immediately prepare for reconciliation and elections? ".
It is therefore not clear whether Farhat Bengdara really has the support of the Americans. In any case, on the national level, the new Libyan "Mister Oil" is protected not only by the government of Dbeibah, but very probably by the ANL of Khalifa Haftar as well.
Moreover, in order to avoid any resistance within the NOC, Farhat Bengdara has promised large salary increases. As for public opinion, he revealed that “the cash that Gaddafi embezzled from the Libyan Central Bank was placed in containers and buried in the desert”.
"Oil coup"
This last statement is a game-changer. Indeed, while Libyan oil revenues were blocked by the United States, Abdel Hamid Dbeibah was counting above all on the funds he collected abroad. A negligible part of Muammar Gaddafi's fortune, which was more than enough in Dbeibah to stay in power until today.
But if the fortune of the former "Guide of the Revolution" is difficult to estimate, it is certain that despite all his offshore accounts, Muammar Gaddafi kept a good part of them in cash. Which had also helped him to finance several projects in sub-Saharan Africa, to finance electoral campaigns, or even coups d'etat abroad...
Between 2006 and 2011, Farhat Bengdara was, precisely, the guardian of these secrets. Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), it was impossible for funds to be drawn from the state coffers without his approval.
What is certain is that if Haftar and Dbeibah trust Farhat Bengdara, it is impossible for the latter to be under the exclusive control of one of the two. And if he is, in addition, ready to stand up to the United States, in addition to revealing the positions of Gaddafi's loot, Farhat Bengdara must be certain of being protected, and dubbed by - at least - part of the Gaddafi family.
Read: Oil, politics and African diplomacy… Libya for Dummies
Only one thing is certain, it is that in one day, two oil fields resumed their activities in Libya. If Farhat Bengdara proves up to the task, and oil production resumes, chances are the West will be forced to tolerate this “oil coup”.