- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
- EU chief announces $11 bn for nations hit by 'heartbreaking' floods
- Spanish PM, Palestinian leader urge Mideast de-escalation
- New study reinforces theory Covid emerged at Chinese market
- World Bank boosts climate financing by 10 percent
- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
Libya oil company chief appeals for state investment
The powerful head of Libya's National Oil Corporation on Wednesday decried a lack of state investment in the country's vital energy sector.
Libya sits on the largest known oil reserves in Africa, and is heavily dependent on revenues from its oil and gas exports.
In a decade of violence since the 2011 revolt that overthrew and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, armed groups have frequently blockaded or damaged oil installations, and some have been destroyed.
"In 2021, we received just 11 percent" of the state budget allocated for the oil and gas sector, after two years of receiving no funding and accruing "large debts", NOC chief Mustafa Sanalla said.
"Despite this, we achieved high production levels," he said, holding a rare press conference in the capital Tripoli.
The NOC is trying "to maintain a level of production of 1.2 million barrels per day" but hopes for state investment in order to boost output, he added.
Libya's oil production was between 1.5 million and 1.6 million bpd before the 2011 NATO-backed uprising.
"The networks are dilapidated and must be stopped regularly in order to repair" pipelines, he said.
"We have 60-year-old equipment that needs to be replaced, but this is not possible because we do not have the budget," he added.
The NOC said on Saturday that Libya's lifeline oil and gas exports raised revenues of more than $21.5 billion in 2021, the highest level in five years.
Divisions between rival powers based in Libya's east and west have long held the country's economic activity hostage.
Unlike many other Libyan state institutions, the NOC has largely managed to remain neutral in the face of political wrangling.
Relations are tense between Sanalla -- who has been in the job since 2014 -- and Oil Minister Mohammed Aoun, who has repeatedly tried to sack the NOC chief, prompting interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah to intervene.
"Bickering doesn't interest us, only production," Sanalla said.
M.Odermatt--BTB