Libya's NOC moves into Benghazi The Libyan government opened a branch of the Oil Ministry in the former rebel capital of Benghazi, the state-owned oil company announced. TRIPOLI, Libya, June 11 (UPI) -- The Libyan government opened a branch of the Oil Ministry in the former rebel capital of Benghazi, the state-owned oil company announced. State-owned National Oil Corp. said the Oil Ministry opened offices in Benghazi, the first such move since the country's civil war began in February 2011, reports Bloomberg News. Benghazi, the former rebel capital in the east of the country, was excluded by the former government of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi in favor of Tripoli. The move, reports Bloomberg, is part of a national effort to expand the administrative capacity of the ministry and to decentralize its authority. British energy company BP, a major player in the Libyan energy sector, announced in late May that it signed a deal with Libya's NOC. BP declared force majeure Feb. 21, 2011, as the uprising against Gadhafi began.