The former head of Libya's National Oil Corp. has been reinstated just weeks after his resignation, a move reflecting the unpredictable politics amid a power struggle between reformists and nationalists in this oil rich North African nation.
A statement posted on NOC's Web site said Shukri Ghanem met Sunday with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and Seif-al-Islam Gadhafi, the reformist son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The statement identified Ghanem as the NOC's secretary _ the equivalent to the company's chief executive.
His return to his prior post was also confirmed by two NOC officials, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Contacted by The Associated Press at his NOC office, Ghanem was said to be in a meeting and unavailable for comment.
The return of Ghanem _ who is widely credited with opening up Libya's oil sector to international oil majors over the past few years _ is as surprising as his resignation, announced earlier this month.
His departure was widely seen by analysts as part of a succession battle between Seif-al-Islam, the reformer, and his more conservative brother, Mutassim Gadhafi, the country's national security adviser.
"It's a dramatic change in the situation," London-based Libya expert John Hamilton of Cross Border Information said of Ghanem's reinstatement.
Around the same time that Ghanem's resignation was officially announced earlier this month, Libya set up the Supreme Council of Energy Affairs _ a regulatory body that replaced the now-defunct Supreme Council for Oil and Gas Affairs. The new council, which is chaired by al-Mahmoudi, includes various Libyan government ministers as well as the national security adviser _ Mutassim Gadhafi.
The council "seemed to give quite a voice to Mutassim in the running of Libya's energy sector," said Hamilton.
"Now, to see that Ghanem is back in place, one would have to question the assumptions about what happened in the past couple of months," Hamilton added. "One could say that this indicates that Seif-al-Islam's influence is greater than what was said, or that he's coming back."
However, "they belong to one family and I don't think that anyone is entirely out of the picture," Hamilton said.
As with the ongoing power struggle, an equal measure of uncertainty is tied to Ghanem's return in a county where decision-making is often opaque and ultimately rests with one man _ Moammar Gadhafi.
Ghanem's resignation had come as Libya was reportedly dragging its heels on finalizing an expected purchase of Canadian independent oil producer Verenex.
Ghanem, who had supported the deal, had said months earlier that NOC would exercise its right to block China's CNPC International Ltd. from buying Verenex. But after months of delays and CNPC's withdrawal of its bid, Libya offered $314.1 million for the company, roughly $100 million less than the initial value of the deal.
The circumstances surrounding Ghanem's return to NOC, remain largely unclear.
While the Verenex dispute was widely seen as a black eye for the oil chief who also previously served as Libya's prime minister, it remains to be seen whether Ghanem is returning to a post that has the power it once held.
As NOC head, he was Libya's de facto oil minister, representing the country _ home to Africa's largest proven reserves of crude _ at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. But the creation of the new oil council could mean that Ghanem may see some of his authority clipped.
"I think there's a lot of questions one would want to ask about how the energy sector is going to work," said Hamilton.
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