Libya Herald | 19.04.2018
By Sami Zaptia
The Chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla has reported that 30-40 percent of Libya’s fuel is stolen or smuggled. He has called on Operation Sophia to include smuggling of refined fuel as part of its operations. Sanalla has also suggested adding a marker to Libyan fuel to identify it. He also called for a reform of Libya’s subsidy system. Sanalla was speaking at the inaugural Oil and Fuel Theft conference in Geneva yesterday.
Here is his complete speech provided by the Media Department of the NOC.
‘‘It gives me no pleasure to be here as the representative of a country where fuel smuggling is so prevalent, and where fuel smugglers are able to grow fabulously rich at the expense of ordinary law-abiding Libyan citizens.
It is difficult to find accurate statistics on the value of fuel smuggled and stolen in Libya. But we estimate that between 30-40% of fuel produced and imported into Libya is stolen or smuggled, with a loss to the Libyan people in the order of a billion dinars a year, around 750 million US dollars at the official rate. Imagine what could be achieved to improve the lives of ordinary Libyans with such a huge sum – hospitals, medication, schools, housing.