Key to this tentative agreement was the formation of a joint technical committee, which would – according to the official statement: “Oversee oil revenues and ensure the fair distribution of resources… and control the implementation of the terms of the agreement during the next three months, provided that its work is evaluated at the end of the 2020 and a plan is defined for the next year.” In order to address the fact that the then-GNA effectively held sway over the NOC and, by extension, the Central Bank of Libya (in which the revenues are physically held), the committee would also “prepare a unified budget that meets the needs of each party… and the reconciliation of any dispute over budget allocations… and will require the Central Bank [in Tripoli] to cover the monthly or quarterly payments approved in the budget without any delay, and as soon as the joint technical committee requests the transfer.” None of these measures have since been put into place, which leaves fundamental flashpoints over the country’s core revenue stream remaining. Back in 2021, when the NOC first flagged serious plans to significantly boost its oil output, at that point up to 1.6 million bpd and then perhaps to 2 million bpd, French oil giant Total (now TotalEnergies) agreed to continue with its efforts to increase oil production from the giant Waha, Sharara, Mabruk and Al Jurf oil fields by at least 175,000 bpd and to make the development of the Waha-concession North Gialo and NC-98 oil fields a priority, according to the NOC. The firm’s executive vice president for gas and low carbon, William Lin, stated that the agreement, “reflects our strong interest in deepening our partnership with NOC and supporting the future of Libya’s energy sector.” And given that Libyan oil production is exempt from OPEC+ quotas -- and is rarely priced in by markets until after the fact -- any major swing in output could once again tip the balance in a tight market, as it has done before.
Author: Simon Watkins
Published at: 2026-01-05 23:00:00
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