Libya’s rebel government is seeking $3.5 billion to cover its budget for six months as sales of crude stopped after oil fields were destroyed, said Mahmoud Badi, the president of foreign investments and sovereign assets. “Oil sales have been stopped because there has been an aggression on the oil fields and the producing fields were destroyed,” Badi said in an interview in Abu Dhabi yesterday. “We were only able to sell one cargo for $90 million to $100 million and after that we were not able to.” Libya was producing as much as 1.4 million barrels a day of crude before opposition to Muammar Qaddafi’s four-decade rule in mid-February led to an armed rebellion which halted oil exports. In April, a tanker loaded about 1 million barrels from rebel- controlled territory that was marketed by Qatar’s national oil company. Rebel officials are visiting friendly Arab and European nations for credit lines and loans. The National Transitional Council received pledges for a total of $1.2 billion from countries including France, Italy and Qatar, Ahmed Jehani, the official in charge of reconstruction at the rebel council, said. The cost of importing fuel for rebel-held cities is $300 million a month, Badi said. This has been covered by countries which used to be customers of Libyan oil and companies that produce or sell crude for the nation such as Eni SpA (ENI), Total SA (FP) and Vitol Group, he said. The country needs armored cars, helicopters and weapons in order to secure oilfields so it can resume crude production and processing operations, Badi said. Four out of five of the nation’s refineries are shut and the Qaddafi-controlled Zawiyah facility is operating only partially, he said. The 20,000 barrel-a-day Tobruk refinery and 10,000 barrel- a-day plant at Sarir “might start within weeks, or one to two months if we provide security,” Badi said. Peace would also enable crude output of about 100,000 barrels a day, he said. The United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is the capital, hosted the 22-nation Libya Contact Group last week. To contact the reporters on this story: Ayesha Daya at adaya1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

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