Controversy and conflicting numbers between the Bank of Libya and the Oil Corporation regarding revenues

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The conflicting figures announced regarding oil revenues in Libya sparked a widespread debate between the Central Bank of Libya and the National Oil Corporation, after each party revealed a different tally of the amounts transferred during this October, with a difference approaching $870 million.

The Central Bank of Libya announced, in a statement today, Thursday, that the value of oil revenues supplied to it from the beginning of October until the 14th of October amounted to $361 million, explaining that these data match the records of the Ministry of Finance and are based on its bank records and the movement of revenues actually transferred to it.

On the other hand, the National Oil Corporation expressed its reservations regarding these numbers, stressing that the total amounts it transferred to the sovereign account with the Libyan Foreign Bank amounted to about 1.23 billion dollars ($1,231,631,354) as of October 13.

The corporation said, in a statement, that the figure reported by the Central Bank does not reflect the full picture of the financial flows associated with oil revenues, attributing the difference between the two figures to an approved financial mechanism for deducting the value of fuel supply credits through the Libyan Foreign Bank, in accordance with Council of Ministers Resolution No. 525 of 2026, with the remaining balance being transferred to the Central Bank of Libya.

In a statement on Thursday, the Corporation attributed the difference between the two numbers to an approved financial mechanism to deduct the value of fuel supply credits through the Libyan Foreign Bank, in accordance with Council of Ministers Resolution No. 525 of 2026, with the remaining balance being transferred to the Central Bank of Libya.

She added that she informed the Governor of the Central Bank on October 8 that the amounts transferred exceeded $700 million, considering that not including this data in the bank’s statement requires an official clarification regarding the total financial flows and the mechanism for their settlement.

In an escalation of the dispute, National Oil called on the Attorney General’s Office to open a comprehensive and independent investigation to verify the numbers contained in the Central Bank’s statement, the total amounts transferred and the mechanism for their settlement, and to determine responsibilities regarding what it described as not presenting the data in an integrated manner.

This discrepancy highlights the mechanisms for managing and supplying oil revenues in Libya, the main source of financing the general budget, amid demands to clarify the path of funds and the reasons for the discrepancy between the statements issued by the two institutions.