BRITAIN’S FOREIGN SECRETARY has said that Qatar has offered to facilitate the sale of Libyan oil and to use the proceeds to help meet Libyan humanitarian needs.

Speaking at an international conference on Libya yesterday in London, William Hague said Qatar would “facilitate” oil sales where consistent with international law.

He said the income generated would be used to support the people of Libya, but didn’t provide details on how the process would work or who would be supported.

Qatar was the first Arab country to recognise the Libyan opposition council and the Financial Times reports that Doha had already been supplying the rebels with essential fuel supplies. Over the past few days, Libyan rebels have strengthened their position by gaining key oil regions.

According to UPI, the US has said it won’t block sales from rebel-controlled oil ports if the proceeds don’t end up back in Gaddafi’s control.

The price of crude oil fell to its lowest point in a week yesterday, Bloomberg said, after rebel advances increased market hopes that the Libyan conflict would be over quickly and the supply of crude would pick up again.

- Additional reporting by the AP