Will Egypt Seek Oil From Libya ?

Tobruk’s parliament called the Libyan government in al-Baidaa to support Egypt with oil shipments for free amid a Saudi Aramco decision to halt the supply of the refined oil products to Egypt.

The member of the National Sovereignty Bloc, Ziyad Dugheim, has disclosed that the bloc requested from the Al-Thinni government of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives to give away Libyan oil to Egypt free of charge as a kind of support for the Egyptian government, according to Libyan Express.

Speaking on the phone with the Egyptian TV channel, Sada Al-Balad, Wednesday, Dugheim said when the National Sovereignty Bloc members heard that Saudi Aramco company was ditching Egypt and would stop providing it with oil, they called Abdullah Al-Thinni, the head of the HoR’s Transitional Government (Al-Thinni government) and asked him to contact Egypt and provide them with oil without any financial charges.

“Al-Thinni immediately called the Chairman of the Benghazi-based National Oil Corporation, Al-Naj Al-Magherbi, and told him to visit Egypt and deliver the free Libyan oil offer to the government,” he indicated.

He also told the channel that Egypt has never left them and has always been the shelter for Libyans whenever any crisis happens in the country.

Dugheim also mentioned that the Khalifa Haftar-led Dignity Operation forces, which he called the Libyan National Army, have their grip on 80% of the Libyan soil and 95% of the Libyan resources, as reported by Libyan Express.

Similarly, in an earlier interview by phone with the Egyptian channel, CBC Extra, the legal adviser of the leader of Dignity Operation, Khalifa Haftar, Saleh Abdelkareem, said that a plan to export oil to Egypt by the Egyptian pound was presented to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and its Transitional Government of Al-Thinni, as well as the parallel National Oil Corporation and the Governor of the parallel Central Bank of Libya, Ali Al-Hebri.

“We want to help Egypt receive our oil and not be obliged to buy oil by dollar or other foreign currencies. Egyptians must benefit from the Libyan oil,” Abdelkareem bluntly told the Egyptian Channel.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Haftar  had taken over oil facilities in eastern Libya from Petroleum Facilities Guards, a rival militia force allied to the UN-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

Haftar is a military figure that is backed by the Tobruk government, based in eastern Libya and refuses to recognize the U.N.-backed government. He enjoys the support of several Arab nations, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as western countries such as France.

Last month, Haftar started extending his power in the east with the assistance of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

Egypt’s Armed Forces have been mandated to protect the joint borders from the sea to the Libyan-Sudanese borders.

Haftar requested the Egyptian army to protect Libyan/Egyptian borders from Imsaad, in the north, to the Libyan/Sudanese borders, as well as the maritime boundaries between both countries, “meaning that Haftar has granted Egypt unprecedented authority on Libyan territory,” said Libya Prospect.

Moreover, the oil tankers transporting Libyan petrol from Haftar-controlled regions in the east will be under Egypt’s authority in practice, the oil tankers will only be able to carry the oil and export unless Cairo approves.

With the assistance of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Haftar succeeded in controlling the oil terminals eastern Libya.He was also promoted by Tobruk House of Representative (HoR) as Field Marshall after he controlled the Oil Crescent eastern Libya.