Selling oil across Libya

Chapter 76 They're all totally insane

The military operation "Odyssey Dawn" involved not only NATO countries, but also some so-called "brother countries".

The word "brother" is quite ironic here.

The colonel certainly brought this upon himself; he had offended too many people.

Even "brotherly countries" have their own unavoidable difficulties and are not in control of their own destiny.

Qin Rui could understand all of this.

But I still won't accept it.

"Oil prices are in our interest. If Libya continues to increase production, international oil prices will inevitably be affected, which will put Libya in the center of the storm again."

Prince Nasser's threatening remarks forced Libya to comply.

"Why is it Libya that is limiting production, and not other member states?"

Yuri spoke in a low voice, slowly.

"Your Excellency First Minister, this is not just about Libya, but about all OPEC member countries reducing production to protect the interests of all of us."

Nasser offered a strong defense.

"The increased production you made was part of Libya's quota, so it's only right that you reduce production. We're just taking back our quota, which is rightfully ours. What's the problem with that?"

Yuri can cooperate with OPEC, but only on the premise of not harming Libya's interests.

"You can certainly take back your quotas, but you can't continue to expand production."

Nasser, on behalf of OPEC, agreed to return the quota that originally belonged to Libya to Libya.

"Over the past fourteen months, Libya has lost a total of $420 billion in oil revenue. What do you mean by that?"

Yuri put the quota issue aside for now and said he would address it later.

"These losses were caused by the Libyan government and have nothing to do with OPEC."

Nasser completely denied everything.

Yuri sneered, about to retort, when Qin Rui, who had been playing on his phone the whole time, suddenly said quietly, "OPEC has already expelled Libya and has no right to interfere in Libya's internal affairs."

"OPEC never revoked Libya's membership; you withdrew voluntarily."

Nasser continues to shift blame.

"That's not important!"

Yuri waved his hand dismissively, concluding: "Regardless of whether Libya is an OPEC member, OPEC has no right to interfere in Libya's internal affairs."

Besides OPEC, the International Olympic Committee and the African Union are also trying to bring Libya back into the international community.

Nasser fared relatively well; at least he got the opportunity to meet Yuri and had a chance to persuade him.

The International Olympic Committee and the African Union sent letters to the Libyan government, but received no response whatsoever.

Next month, the 30th Olympic Games will be held in London.

Despite Libya's clear statement that it would not send a delegation to the London Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has sent a series of letters to Tripoli, hoping that Libya will rejoin the Olympic family.

Yuri, believing he lacked the Olympic spirit, ignored it all.

Ironically, the Magariaf government-in-exile contacted several former Libyan athletes who had been training in Europe to form a team to represent Libya at the Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee rejected their application.

The African Union is even more ridiculous.

With Libya's explicit withdrawal from the African Union, the AU has sent letters to Tripoli this year, hoping that Libya will pay its dues for the year.

Several countries that have received funding from Libya and whose dues have been paid by Libya have also sent a letter to Tripoli demanding that Libya pay its dues for this year.

Require!

Qin Rui had nothing to say.

It's that classic line again: "How can you take my money to support your family?"

"These guys are out of their minds, they're all fucking lunatics!"

Yuri looked around and saw not a single normal country.

"Even though they knew this would be the outcome, their actions at least demonstrate their courage."

Qin Rui didn't think these people were crazy; it was just path dependence.

Born in 42, the colonel came to power in a coup in 69. He lived through the entire Cold War era, and his thinking was deeply ingrained. Even in the 21st century, he still used Cold War thinking to deal with international relations.

The trend of small countries turning their backs on large countries was started by people like Colonel.

Libya has already withdrawn from the African Union, so it certainly won't be paying dues for those small countries anymore.

Even if you know you can't get it, showing your courage might still allow you to gain something in another place than something in another.

Qin Rui is not in charge of diplomacy and will not waste even a single [evolution value] for the sake of so-called "international influence".

During his tenure, the colonel spent billions of dollars annually to expand Libya's international influence.

How is the result?

When Libya was attacked by the coalition forces, those so-called "brotherly countries" at most issued a lukewarm statement expressing their regret and calling on all parties to remain calm and resolve the conflict peacefully.

Even worse, some countries acted as accomplices to the coalition forces, sending warplanes to bomb Libya, causing serious harm to the Libyan people not only physically but also psychologically.

Let's set these accounts aside for now and settle them later.

In addition to pressure from the international community, domestic pressure is also increasing daily.

With the end of the civil war, democracy and freedom became a prevailing trend. Samir, a former professor at the University of Benghazi, formed the Eastern Front Alliance in Benghazi in an attempt to advocate for the interests of the eastern region.

After the Numidian Brigade took control of the Sirte oil field, they cut off the oil pipeline leading to Benghazi, concentrating the oil from the Sirte region for export to the port of Siddar.

Although oil revenues are distributed to the Libyan government, if Benghazi undertakes a portion of the oil export tasks, a portion of the profits will certainly remain in Benghazi.

The Eastern Front Alliance not only hopes to restore Benghazi oil exports.

Furthermore, it is hoped that the Libyan government will initiate the reconstruction of eastern cities as soon as possible, so that people can live and work in peace and contentment.

At the same time as the Eastern Front Alliance was established, several regions called for the continuation of the provisional government's administrative system and the improvement of the organizational structure at the capital-province-city-town level.

After the establishment of the interim government, Libya was divided into 22 provinces.

Yuri didn't care.

Qin Rui firmly disagreed.

After the civil war ended, the Libyan government began to conduct a nationwide population census.

Although this work is not yet finished, multiple organizations predict that Libya now has a maximum population of only 400 million.

Before the launch of Operation Odyssey Dawn, Libya had a population of over 600 million.

In just 14 months, Libya has lost at least a third of its population.

Based on existing data analysis, the number of people lost in Libya may exceed half.

Even if there are still 400 million people, there is no need to divide them into 22 provinces.

Libya's population is mainly concentrated in the coastal areas, specifically the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, which absorb more than half of the country's population.

If divided into 22 provinces, some provinces in inland desert regions would be lucky to have 10,000 people.

This place doesn't even have the audacity to call itself a province; it's not even as good as a slightly larger village.

If we really want to divide it according to 22 provinces.

If the administrative structure at all levels is further improved, then Libya's administrative costs will skyrocket.