Unity Libyan government signs deal to open oil ports

Two members of the Presidency Council (PC) of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), Musa Koni and Ahmed Mahdi, along with defense minister Mahdi Al-Barghathi, flew to Ras Lanuf today to sign a deal to open the terminal there and at Es Sidre.

Barghathi and Koni both flew in from Cairo, where they had been with GNA Prime Minister Faiez Serraj where they had talks with the rival House of Representatives head Ageela Saleh. The deal is with Ibrahim Jadhran, head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG). While details of the deal are yet to be released it is understood that a significant amount will be paid to Jadhran, including back salaries of what he claims are his 23,000 PFG forces. Some claim these numbers have been inflated and the real number is closer to 12,000 with only about 3,000 of those working within the PFG.

The deal seems to have been worked out between Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), Martin Kobler, who went to Ras Lanuf, and met with Jadhran about a week ago. The head of the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah wrote a letter to Kobler filled with criticisms of the deal. Apparently, Kobler did not consult Sanallah on the deal. The Presidency Council of the GNA must have agreed to sign the resulting agreement.

Sanallah has said he will not lift force majeure on the ports if there is an agreement to pay Jadhran. As long as there is force majeure, exporters have no guarantee that contracts will be met making it very risky to use the ports.

Sanallah claimed the deal set a terrible precedent through rewarding Jadhran for extorting money from the state through shutting the ports.

Sanallah has rejected the agreement with Jadhran, accusing him of being a trickster. Sanallah also accused UN envoy Martin Kobler of backing one of the biggest deceivers in the country. Sanallah accused Presidency Council member Fathi Mijibri, a close ally to Jadhran, of using his position to capture the NOC. Sanallah even threatened to withdraw NOC recognition of the UN-installed government. Before that happens I would expect that Sanallah would be fired. There has been no statement from Sanallah as yet about the signing of the deal.

The Observer reports the government agreed to pay an LYD 241 million to Jodran in order to resume exports, but a source confirmed that only LYD 85 million out of the total amount has been paid to him so far. Ajdabiya mayor Salem Jodran, brother of Ibrahim Jodran, confirmed that the agreement to reopen the ports was reached after ensuring the rights of PFG employees and their salaries.

Stakeholders who have control of oil infrastructure have long insisted they need to be compensated for keeping ports open, allowing exports or production. Tribes south of the ports want some compensation as does Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, whose forces control some fields. The House of Representatives (HoR) government also demands revenue from export sales.. The latter insists that any tanker that loads oil must have a permit from the eastern-based National Oil Company. There is supposed to be one merged NOC but the deal establishing it has not been accepted by the HoR.