The oil sector plunged into chaos when the Government of National Unity put a new head in charge of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the current head in office, Mustafa Sanalla, questioned his authority. The situation outside the NOC headquarters was tense, with armed groups on the spot. NOC personnel launched a call to arms to Libyans to protect the building as a “national duty”.
Sanalla left HQ, which remains under NOC control, and the GUN claimed that the new appointed chief, Farhat Ben Gudara, took over. In a TV speech before his departure, Sanalla denounced the legitimacy of the GUN, one of the two governments of Libya: “You do not have the ability to make decisions,” said Sanalla addressing GUN leader Abdelhamid Dbeibeh directly. “The mandate of your government is over. It is a provisional government since October 2021 and the parliament has approved a vote of no confidence”. Sanalla has accused the GUN of disrupting the oil markets and of negotiating agreements with the United Arab Emirates, which in the past supported the Libyan national army insurgent against Tripoli and the NOC.