National Oil Corporation (NOC) has taken a hard line on blockades, refusing to give in to threats of extortion and insisting that perpetrators should face judicial sanctions. In an official statement on 4 March, NOC said that Brigadier-General Al-Rifi Kenah Ahmed Ali, who was appointed commander of the Libyan National Army’s Oil Assets Protection Unit in late February, had written to Akakus Oil Operations – its joint venture with Repsol, Total, Equinor and OMV, which runs the field – confirming that all individuals subject to arrest warrants from the public prosecutor had been removed from the site and would not be readmitted.