Just as Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is targeting to raise crude oil output to 1 million bpd by the end of July, the rivaling factions in the east and west of the country have entered into a fresh dispute over Libya’s crude oil sales after several Arab states cut ties with Qatar last week. In the east, the military commander is supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt—three of the Arab states that severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region. According to Bloomberg, the chairman of the eastern NOC in Libya, Nagi al-Maghrabi, has accused Qatar of using its 8.5-percent stake in commodity trader Glencore to control the Swiss trader’s sales of Libyan crude oil. Authorities in eastern Libya have threatened to block Glencore operations, which could potentially reduce (again) Libya’s output and threaten its tentative recovery. Earlier […]