EU targets Libyan oil

BRUSSELS, March 25 (UPI) -- The European Union announced it was extending sanctions under a Libyan resolution to include the country's national oil company.

The U.N. Security Council last week passed Resolution 1973 that calls for military intervention in Libya to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The Security Council under a separate resolution referred Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court for allegedly ordering attacks on unarmed civilians during upheavals in February.

Washington and the rest of the international community responded to the sanctions by freezing the assets of Gadhafi and many regime officials and family members.

The European Union announced it was extending sanctions to include the country's national oil company.

"The assets freeze is extended to the new entities on the U.N. list under UNSCR 1973, including the National Oil Corporation and also to five subsidiaries of the NOC designated autonomously by the EU," the Council of the European Union announced in a statement.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced this week that 14 companies owned by the Libyan National Oil Corp. were subject to economic sanctions.

"Consistent with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973, all governments should block the National Oil Corp.'s assets and ensure that Gadhafi cannot use this network of companies to support his activities," OFAC Director Adam Szubin said in a statement.