The new Government of Unity (GNU) has appointed a new Ministry of Oil and Gas, which is to be led by Libya’s former OPEC governor, Mohamed Oun.

The state-owned oil company of Libya, the National Oil Corporation, will have to release oil revenues to the central bank after the creation of the oil ministry.

The NOC and the Central Bank had been at loggerheads after the resumption of oil production in Libya last year amid uncertainties and lack of a government. The NOC was previously using the Libyan Foreign Bank in the country’s capital city and largest city, Tripoli, to hold oil revenues.

In a statement over the weekend, the NOC said: “This is in line with the temporary arrangements in force that ended with the formation of the government of national unity.”

Previously, the Chairman of NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, had warned that money from crude sales would not be released to the central bank until it shows “clear transparency” on how it allocates funds, but the Chairman has welcomed the new development and said he is looking forward to working with the ministry in “expanding the capabilities of the Libyan oil resources.”

In a recent note by Platts Analytics, it said: “This is a positive step toward diplomacy and reconciliation ahead of Dec. 24 elections. With all sides on board for now, we expect less volatility at the margin over the coming weeks and will likely revise up our forecast for March from 1.1 million b/d to 1.2 million b/d.”

Although it has the largest reserves in Africa, the OPEC and APPO Member Country is excluded from the ongoing production cut by OPEC because it only recent resumed production after several years.