Oil company linked to Haftar in Eastern Libya challenges state oil firm's export monopoly

A private oil company linked to Libya's eastern-based government is challenging the National Oil Corporation's (NOC) monopoly over the country's oil exports.

Arkenu Oil Company, associated with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, has reportedly exported approximately $600 million worth of oil since May, according to shipping records and U.N. experts cited by Reuters. This marks the first instance of a privately-owned firm exporting significant quantities of oil from Libya.

Some of the oil was allegedly purchased by Exxon Mobil and China’s Unipec, although it is unclear whether the transactions were made directly with Arkenu. The oil was reportedly shipped to Europe, Libya’s primary export market.

The private transactions likely mean that oil revenue that would ordinarily go to the Central Bank of Libya was diverted to forces loyal to Haftar. A U.N. panel informed the Security Council in December that Arkenu is indirectly controlled by Saddam Haftar, the son of Khalifa Haftar.

The company was reportedly founded in 2023 by former National Oil Corporation employees. Its emergence highlights the ongoing power struggle in Libya, which remains divided between the Tripoli-based government in the west and Haftar’s Benghazi-based administration in the east.

Eastern Libya holds the majority of the country's oil fields, and disputes have long centered on revenue distribution by the Central Bank in Tripoli. Haftar'sforces have argued that they are not receiving a fair share of the oil revenue, given their control over the bulk of the resources.