Rebels set up oil company and bank

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.
"You're creating a de-facto state structure, which is not entirely unproblematic . but when you do that, you send a clear signal."
Last week, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution freezing the overseas assets of Libya's National Oil Corporation (Noc) and central bank on the grounds they were potential sources of funding for Col Qaddafi's regime.
In an earlier resolution, it referred allegations of human rights violations by the regime to the International Criminal Court.
The rebels said their council would "urgently prepare a file on the referral of Qaddafi and his gang and his associates involved in the killing of Libyans" to the court and would begin choosing ambassadors to foreign countries.
Last month, Arabian Gulf Oil said it had broken ties with its parent, Noc, and would work with the Benghazi rebels. The east Libyan company later said it would channel oil payments to the Transitional National Council, but no such revenues have yet materialised.
Yesterday, Arabian Gulf said its output had fallen to 95,000 barrels per day (bpd) from more than 400,000 bpd before the conflict. It said oil was being stored in rebel-controlled facilities in Tobruk, a north-east Libyan port, but no tankers were available to ship the oil out.
On Tuesday, the US Treasury identified 14 companies controlled by Noc and declared them subject to sanctions. Arabian Gulf was among them.
The Treasury said it might modify its decision if the ownership of any of the companies changed.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae