Friday, April 1, 2011

Libyan Rebels set up oil company and bank

No, not an April Fools post, this is actually a week old.
From The National (U.A.E.):
Libyan rebels are setting up an alternative national oil company and a central bank to replace the established institutions controlled by the regime of the country's embattled president Muammar Qaddafi.

The Transitional National Council, representing anti-government rebels based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, decided at a meeting on Friday to establish the "Libyan Oil Company as supervisory authority on oil production and policies in the country, based temporarily in Benghazi".

The council has also "designated the Central Bank of Benghazi as a monetary authority competent in monetary policies in Libya".

It said it had appointed an interim director general of the oil company and a governor of the new "Central Bank of Libya, with headquarters temporarily in Benghazi".

The rebel group had signalled some weeks ago that it planned to take such steps, said Samuel Ciszuk, the senior Middle East energy analyst at IHS Global Insight. "It is a realistic move … but it will take some time to get anything logistically up and flowing. There are several hurdles to pass before it will be legally feasible for western companies to deal with them," he said....MORE