Jessica Donati and Ghaith Shennib BENGHAZI — Libya plans to move the headquarters of its state oil firm to Benghazi, the city that started the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi and now wants greater influence, if a plan to restructure the corporation is approved by the national assembly. Despite about 80 percent of Libya's oil being located in the east, Gaddafi moved the state oil firm to the capital Tripoli and starved the eastern region of investment. "The headquarters will be in Benghazi," said Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak, referring to the terms of a new plan being finalzed for approval by Libya's highest political body. Easterners have been calling for greater control over the country's oil reserves — estimated to be the largest in Africa — since the uprising began in their region in early 2011. At the start of the year, eastern workers and activists rejected a compromise by the government to move refining and petrochemicals to the east and even considered staging protests to threaten oil output. Several assembly members told Reuters that easterners had since been promised the National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters would also move to Benghazi, but it was difficult to say when this would happen as they had not seen official paperwork yet. "The prime minister then went to Benghazi and promised to move the NOC back to the city but no official resolution on this has been seen by the General National Congress (GNC) committee yet," said a member of the assembly's energy committee. The wrangling over how to split the state oil firm has added to broader discontent in Benghazi over the prospect of further marginalization of the east by Tripoli and fueled calls for greater autonomy. The NOC's predecessor, the Libyan General Petroleum Company, was set up in Benghazi in 1968. The NOC was established in 1970, a year after Gaddafi came to power, and relocated to Tripoli. NOC Chairman Nuri Berruien said Prime Minister Ali Zidan had promised to relocate the headquarters to Benghazi, but said it was a government issue. "Moving an NOC or establishing an NOC has to be done by the government," Berruien said in Istanbul. "There have been promises, (but) I don't know if there's been any action." Oil is Libya's lifeblood, which pumps at a rate of around 1.6 million barrels per day and has made the country rich despite its troubles. While Benghazi led the uprising against Gaddafi, the city is far from being welcoming to foreigners these days. In September, the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an assault on their diplomatic mission, while an Italian consul was shot at in his armoured car in January, escaping unscathed. The UN and Red Cross missions have also been targeted by violence. Various governments, including Britain and the United States, advise against travel to Benghazi, although British oil firm BP and some embassies have also pulled staff out of Tripoli, where government control has started to slip. Shakmak said Zidan had already signaled his support for the plan to move the headquarters. "I have discussed this with Zidan and he confirmed it was clear to him that this is his intention, and (the move) is only a matter of time," Shakmak told Reuters. Zidan's office said it could not comment and advised speaking with the oil ministry, which is in charge of the industry's regulatory framework. —Reuters
