The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has suspended its supply of natural gas to Libyan-Norwegian Fertilizer Company LifeCo due to the firm’s accumulated debt, the NOC said Friday.
LifeCo owes the NOC $80 million and to the Sirte Oil Company (SOC) LYD210 million and € 15 million, according to the NOC statement.
Founded in 2009, the Libyan Norwegian Fertilizer Company is the only producer of mineral fertilizer in Libya. The company was established as an international partnership between Libyan industry and Norway’s world leading fertilizer company Yara to develop NOC’s Marsa El-Brega fertilizer assets, valued at $225 million.
The company is a joint venture between NOC and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), each controls 25 percent of the shares, and Yara International, which holds the remaining 50 percent of the shares.
“Yara’s refusal to assume repayment responsibility, expecting the NOC to solely finance LifeCo’s operations while continuing to market its products internationally leads to an unequal relationship; profit-making for Yara, but loss-inflicting for NOC”.
The statement said the NOC is studying ways to solve the problem to ensure the continuity of the company.
