The accusations emerge from the draft report of the UN Panel of Experts which will be released in full in a few days.
The rift between West and East, between Tripoli and Benghazi, is no longer sufficient to explain what’s happening in the country. Control of energy resources fuels not only tensions, but also shady cohabitations, exchanges of favors, and a parallel power market that transcends the official lines of conflict.
In Libya, oil fuels not only the economy, but also militias, power, and illicit trafficking. This is the picture that emerges from a draft of the final report of the United Nations Panel of Experts on Libya – expected on April 9 – which has been circulating since the end of March.
The 288-page document depicts a reality in which the boundaries between political power, military structures, and criminal networks are systematically dissolved.
The Haftar family and the
Arkenu company
The most significant point of the report concerns Arkenu , described as Libya’s first private oil company. According to the document, it is indirectly controlled by Saddam Haftar, son of Khalifa Haftar and deputy commander of the Libyan National Army.
Control would be held by two key figures: Rafat al-Abbar, former deputy oil minister, and Belqacem Shengeer, a former member of the board of directors of the National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Money stolen from institutional channels
Between May and December 2024, Arkenu reportedly exported approximately 7.6 million barrels of oil, worth an estimated $600 million . Part of the revenue was diverted to the Central Bank of Libya (CBL).
Over a longer timeframe—between October 2024 and February 2026—the funds diverted from institutional channels would amount to over $3 billion, transferred to foreign accounts. The contract between Arkenu and the NOC, according to the report, does not comply with Libyan law: unpaid taxes, breached contractual terms.
Control over the NOC and the shadow
decision-making structure
The report devotes ample space to the systematic infiltration of the National Oil Corporation. Armed groups linked to Saddam Haftar and Ibrahim Dbeibah—national security advisor and nephew of Tripoli Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah—have apparently developed, over time, a growing ability to influence Haftar’s decisions at every level of decision-making.
The parallel structure
Al-Abbar, in particular, is said to have built a parallel structure within the organization. Exploiting his ties to Saddam Haftar, he allegedly exerted internal pressure and directed financial flows. The NOC’s budget was allegedly used as a cover to channel resources to networks linked to armed groups, compromising its managerial independence.
The former governor of the BCL
The report also cites Farhat Bengdara, former governor of the Libyan Central Bank. He is accused of facilitating the transfer of $300 million in 2019 to support Haftar’s offensive on Tripoli. He then allegedly directed oil contracts to entities linked to both Haftar and those close to Dbeibah, pressuring NOC subsidiaries to open accounts in his private bank.
Fuel smuggling and port networks
The draft appears to reveal an organized fuel smuggling network along the ports of eastern Libya. The port of Benghazi is identified as the main departure point . Dedicated illicit trafficking infrastructure has also been built in Ras Lanuf, while Tobruk is emerging as a strategic hub for illegal exports. According to the draft, this system would be coordinated by a criminal network led by Moein Sharif Al-Deen, who would manage the entire smuggling chain, while also ensuring legal cover for the operations.
Violations of the arms embargo
The report also highlights a series of violations of the international embargo. Among the cases cited is Italy , accused of allegedly providing military training to cadets in Tripoli in December 2024, potentially in violation of UN resolutions. Similar violations are attributed to Belarus, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
On the regional front, the Subul al-Salam militia – affiliated with Khalifa Haftar’s forces – is said to have facilitated the supply of weapons to the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, inserting eastern Libya into a trafficking network that crosses the Sahelian borders.
The Zawiyya protests
The draft’s advances had immediate consequences. On March 13, 2026, hundreds of people took to the streets of Zawiyya to protest what protesters called the corrupt management of public wealth.
The targets included Saddam Haftar, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, his advisor Ibrahim Dbeibah, and Minister Walid al-Lafi. The protesters called for investigations and prosecutions, specifically expressing their rejection of Arkenu’s involvement in the national oil sector.
Collaborations, not oppositions
The draft report appears to paint a picture of a country where energy resources have become a competitive arena between parallel networks. Not a clash between two opposing blocs, East versus West, but rather a system of intersecting interests in which actors from both sides collaborate, overlap, and compete for control of the country’s economic levers.
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