Page 8 - AfrOil Week 36 2019

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
Libya’s NOC halts kerosene deliveries to eastern regions
LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) said last week that it had suspended deliveries of ker- osene to areas in the centre and the east that were not under the control of the government in Tripoli.
In a statement, NOC said it had taken this step in a bid to ensure that kerosene was not being used as jet fuel for military operations. This was apparently a reference to the military conflict between the internationally backed authorities in Tripoli and the Libya National Army (LNA) led by Khalida Haftar.
“NOC has stopped all additional [kerosene] supplies until such time that assurances can be met that fuel is only being used for domes- tic and civilian aviation purposes and reflects real consumption,” the company said in its statement.
It also stressed in a separate statement that it would remain neutral in the conflict and that its aim was to ensure that Libya’s eastern regions had enough kerosene to meet demand among households, businesses and civil aviation oper- ators. “Jet fuel stocks in the east are more than adequatetocoverdemandforcivilianflights,”it said. “NOC takes no side nor part in the conflict in Libya, and it rejects any attempt to portray it as doing so.”
According to data reviewed by Reuters, NOC delivered about 5.25mn litres of kerosene to airport depots in central and eastern regions that are under LNA control in the month of August. This marked a significant drop on the
previous three months, which saw kerosene shipments to these areas float within a range of 7.3-8.8mn litres per month. (It is still higher than the figure of about 3.5mn litres per month recorded for January and February, though.)
NOC did not provide a breakdown of the data to show how kerosene consumption was split between residential, business and avia- tion users. It did report, though, that demand appeared to be up in the aviation sector. “Jet fuel demand has increased in the eastern part of the country despite the number of civilian flights remaining unchanged,” it said. ™
Gen. Khalifa Haftar (Wikimedia Commons)
Ahead of ICJ hearing, Somalia denies Kenyan claims on offshore auction plans
SOMALIA’S government has denied claims that it intends to head off a pending arbitration case by auctioning off a number of offshore blocks that may contain crude oil and natural gas near its disputed maritime border with Kenya.
Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, Somalia’s petroleum and mineral resources minister, said last week that the country had not wavered in its commitment to settling its territorial dispute with Kenya through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In a statement, he asserted that Somalia’s current government was not trying to force the issue by creating new facts on the ground.
“Any suggestion that Somalia has behaved dishonourably by trying to attract bids for oil blocks in the disputed area, or indeed has even undertaken any seismic surveys in that area, is entirely unfounded,” he said. “Our commitment to the rule of law extends to this issue, and for Somalia that commitment is, I believe, the key to our future, from which we will not waver.”
Two-month delay
The minister was speaking shortly before the
ICJ agreed to convene a hearing on the case
on November 4, rather than on September 9 as previously scheduled. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 10•September•2019