Italy’s gas deal with Libya draws criticism

• Important political figures in Libya rejected it.
• Rights groups and local observers have also criticized the two countries.
• Mr. Aoun’s arguments criticized the agreement for raising the Italian side’s stake from 30% to 37%.

Libya: The Government of National Unity (GNU), located in Tripoli, and the Italian government oversaw an $8 billion (£6.4 billion) gas production deal, but important political figures in Libya rejected it.

Rights groups and local observers have also criticized the two countries’ memorandums of understanding aimed at reducing Mediterranean migration flows.

When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and an accompanying group visited Tripoli on Saturday, the energy agreement was signed between Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Italian energy corporation Eni, and the memoranda was signed by the foreign ministers of the two nations.

Shortly after the gas agreement was signed, the GNU’s outspoken oil and gas minister Mohammed Aoun told Al-WTV Wasat’s that it was “illegal” and “lacks equity between the Libyan and Italian sides.”

The contract, which he emphasized was illegal and promised to “rectify,” was “bypassed,” according to him, and his government.

In a formal statement published on Sunday, the ministry reiterated Mr. Aoun’s arguments and criticized the agreement for raising the Italian side’s stake from 30% to 37%.

After the agreement was signed on Saturday, a reporter from the pro-GNU Lana news organization questioned NOC chairman Farhat Bengdara about Mr. Aoun’s absence from the ceremony.

Mr. Bengdara’s firm “works according to the law, and whoever perceives this approach as illegal must go before the court,” he responded, using strong language.

He stated that the NOC negotiation team had been approved by GNU ministries and that the government was recognized internationally.

A “message to foreign oil corporations” to return and continue energy development in Libya, he added, as well as a “clear indication that the oil sector in Libya is free of hazards,” were also included in his description of the agreement.

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