Tripoli—The Office of the Attorney General ordered the imprisonment of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Waha Oil Company (WOC) Fathi Bin Zahiya citing irregularity of the management of the company’s financial assets, a statement by the Attorney General Office said on 10 February 2025.
On Tuesday, NOC’s Chairman appointed the CEO of the Oil Construction Company, Khairallah Abdel Salam, to manage the Waha Oil.
According to the investigators, the Waha Oil Chairman exposed the interests of the company and the public interest to danger by refraining from taking these interests as the sole purpose of his actions. Citing his intentionally concluding a contract worth 769.991 million dinar for establishing barriers to reduces sea waves at the direction of Es Sidra Oil Terminal.
Motivated by gaining illegal benefits for himself and others, the Waha Chairman violated the regulations by assigning the rehabilitation work of the Dahra oil field to unexperienced company established in 2022, paying it $140 million in the years of 2023 and 2024, it added.
He also deliberately abused his authority by spending $100 million on a contract with another unnamed company to complete drilling works on oil wells over a period extended to three years, enabling such company to benefit from the contract without carrying out any work, said the Attorney General.
This in addition to charging him for spending another $214 million to benefit a local company operating in Libya. The prosecutor also found that Bin Zahiya allowed Waha Oil to pay rents amounting to 50,000 dinar per month that benefited employees who were tasked to supervise Waha Oil’s works.
Waha, a subsidiary of Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC), operates as a joint venture with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips.
In August 2024, Waha Oil’s oil production was reduced by 115,000 barrels per day due to maintenance on the pipeline pumping oil from the Waha field to Es Sider port. The company’s production capacity is about 300,000 bpd, which is exported through Es Sider terminal.