Oil theft 'costing Libya over $750 million annually'

Fuel smuggling is costing Libya more than $750 million each year and harming its economy and society, the head of the National Oil Company in the conflict-riddled country said.
"The impact of fuel smuggling is destroying the fabric of the country," NOC president Mustafa Sanalla said according to the text of a speech delivered on Wednesday at a conference on oil and fuel theft in Geneva.
"The fuel smugglers and thieves have permeated not only the militias which control much of Libya, but also the fuel distribution companies which are supposed to bring cheap fuel to Libyan citizens," he said.
"The huge sums of money available from smuggling have corrupted large parts of Libyan society," he added. The backbone of the North African country's economy, Libya's oil sector collapsed in the wake of the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi.