Reuters reports that Libya's internationally recognised government in Tobruk is unlikely to succeed in its plans to have all oil exports paid for through a new state oil firm it is setting up in the east.
Currently, both of the rival governments fund their respective armies with export revenues collected by the National Oil Corporation (NOC), based in Tripoli.
Existing oil contracts were made with the NOC, and the article suggests that the eastern firm - also called NOC - is unlikely to persuade buyers that it is the legitimate owner of the oil reserves.
Introducing a new payment system would mean breaking up the central bank, which has processed oil exports though accounts used by buyers for decades, and which is the only source of hard currency for the importers who feed Libya's 6 million people.
The bank is one of the last institutions largely left untouched by the power struggle, paying public salaries across the country, including those of the armed groups on the state payroll who are fighting on both sides in the civil war.
(Source: Reuters)
(Oil image via Shutterstock)
