Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) on 2 October demanded the Tripoli-based government hand it the necessary funds for its operations and warned a failure to do so could cause oil production to “fall precipitously over the next nine months.”

NOC has regularly complained of insufficient budgets but has recently stepped up calls for a resolution to the problem. “The Corporation [NOC] could increase production substantially, adding hundreds of millions to monthly state revenue. But that will only happen if NOC’s budget is disbursed,” NOC head Mustafa Sanalla says. (CONTINUED - 347 WORDS)