Libya's rival NOC oil companies agree to merge
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TRIPOLI - Libya's state energy company National Oil Corporation has agreed to merge with a rival company established in the east by one of the country's two former competing governments, the NOC said in a statement.
The merging of the two NOCs is a positive step to recovering the OPEC member's oil sector which has been battered by militant attacks, rival export attempts and closures of pipelines and oil ports by armed factions.
It is also a boost for the UN-backed unity government and its presidential council in Tripoli that has struggled to extend its influence over hardline factions and their armed supporters who set up rival administrations in the capital and in the east.
