TRIPOLI, Nov 20 (NNN-Xinhua) — Libya wishes to increase oil and gas trade with Spain, Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya said.
Sanalla made this remark during a meeting with Javier Garcia-Larrache, Spanish ambassador to Libya, according to a statement issued by the NOC.
“We are happy with our partnership with the Spanish company Repsol and there has been a commercial exchange between Libya and Spain in the oil and its derivatives field that exceeded 7.5 billion dollars during the last three years,” Sanalla said.
He appreciated the role that Repsol has been playing through its cooperation with the NOC in capability building and sustainable development.
The Spanish ambassador commended the NOC’s efforts to increase the country’s daily oil production, confirming that he will encourage Spanish service companies to return to Libya, according to the statement.
The NOC recently announced that Libya’s daily oil production has exceeded 1 million barrels, after months of closure of oilfields and ports that had dropped the daily production to less than 100,000 barrels per day.
Demanding a fair distribution of the oil revenues, Libya’s eastern-based army had since January been blocking oil production and exports, the country’s main source of income, before the NOC announced reopening of oilfields and ports in June.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said that Italy supported the Libyan political dialogue program with 450,000 Euros (526,000 U.S. dollars).
According to a statement released by the UNDP on Thursday, an agreement was signed during the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) held in Tunisia ending Nov. 15, in which Italy provides an initial contribution euro 450,000 (about 526,000 U.S. dollars) to UNDP’s political dialogue program.
The agreement has raised the total fund from Italy to UNDP programs to 14,500,000 Euros (about 17,000,000 dollars) destined to support stability, security and prosperity in Libya, said the statement.
“I strongly welcome Italy’s steadfast and longstanding support to the UN efforts in Libya,” said Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Stephanie Williams during the signing ceremony.
“The stabilization of Libya is a strategic priority for Italy. Since the beginning of the crisis, we have been advocating that the only way to ensure Libya’s stability, unity and integrity was to pursue political dialogue,” said Gori.
“Italy is a key partner of the stabilization facility contributing to recover communities and benefit people affected by conflict all around the country. We are looking forward to continue working together for peace and inclusive development in Libya,” said Noto.
Under the auspices of the United Nations, the LPDF took place in Tunis with participation of 75 Libyans representing the social and political spectrum of Libyan society, with the aim of discussing a political roadmap to achieve lasting peace. — NNN-XINHUA
