(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government appointed a new head of Libya’s National Oil Corp., after a militia answering to the administration seized the company headquarters early Thursday.

Farhat Bin Qadara said in press conference at the NOC’s head office that he has officially taken over the chairman’s duties. The company will honor all agreements and contracts signed with foreign oil partners, he added.

Dbeibah’s Tripoli-based government is locked in a battle with a rival government headed by Fathi Bashagha in Sirte, to the east of the capital.

The western-based government has repeatedly called for the resignation of NOC’s long-time chairman, Mustafa Sanalla. In a video statement posted on the NOC’s Facebook page overnight, Sanalla said he wouldn’t step down despite a government order calling for his resignation.

He said Dbeibah’s mandate has expired, since Libya was due to elect a new government last December. Elections were postponed amid ongoing conflict between factions.

Sanalla is no longer inside the NOC’s headquarters, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Sanalla and several NOC officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

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