20111126
Reuters
(Reuters) - The Libyan revolt that ousted Muammar Gaddafi has led to a shake-up of the OPEC member's main industry oil, ushering in a new set of faces, led by newly-appointed oil minister Abdulrahman Ben Yazza.

After eight months of war, they will have to sustain the revival of the oil industry, which is returning to the international market faster than expected.

Questions remain about the future of Libya's oil sector, with a potential shakeup that would give more power to the oil ministry and carve up the National Oil Corporation's (NOC) responsibilities.

Libya holds Africa's largest oil reserves and was pumping 1.6 million barrels per day before the revolt.

OIL MINISTER ABDULRAHMAN BEN YAZZA

Ben Yazza is a former executive of Italian oil company Eni, the largest foreign oil producer in Libya before the war.

The minister, in his mid-50s, worked at Libya's Waha Oil company and served in a number of roles at the state-owned NOC, culminating in a seat on the management committee. He then joined the ENI - NOC joint venture.

Libya's NOC website says Ben Yazza was previously "chairman of the operator's management committee at Eni Oil."

Most recently, he has been working for Eni in Italy, a source close to him said. One diplomatic source described him as "very competent with a strong personality."

DEPUTY OIL MINISTER OMAR SHAKMAK

Shakmak was a deputy to interim oil minister Ali Tarhouni, and has been responsible for much of the daily operations of the oil ministry whose top priorities have been field security and repairs to oil infrastructure.

NOC CHAIRMAN NURI BERRUIEN

Berruien was appointed as head of the NOC by Libya's executive committee in Benghazi, and moved to Tripoli after Gaddafi was ousted from the capital in August.

Berruien has previously said his position at the NOC would not be longterm, but industry sources suspect he will remain as the country prepares for elections in eight months time.

"I'm at the service of my country and my country will decide ... whether they need me or not," he told Reuters on Thursday. Berruien also said he and Ben Yazza would travel together to the next OPEC meeting in Vienna in December.

His background is petroleum engineering and his past experience includes work for eastern oil firm Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) and UK-based oil services company Tecnica.

NOC GENERAL MANAGER FOR OIL MARKETING: AHMED SHAWKI

Shawki led the NOC team in negotiations over 2012 crude oil term contracts where trading houses are battling to take a share of supplies away from more traditional clients like oil majors.

He was also part of a delegation attending the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month.

He left the NOC after 12 years in 2007 shortly after the arrival of Shokri Ghanem as chairman. After that, he worked as an energy consultant.

AGOCO CHAIRMAN AHMED MAJBRI

Ahmed Majbri, chairman of the Benghazi-based Agoco replaced Abdel Wanis in February when the Libyan revolt started. This company controls around one quarter of the country's production, most of which is pumped from the eastern fields of Sarir and Mesla.

Majbri previously worked in Agoco's finance department.