WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday banned Americans from doing business with 14 companies that it said were owned by Libya's National Oil Corporation and might be raising revenues for Libya.
The action by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control was aimed at blocking National Oil Corporation from being a source of funding for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Treasury said it was monitoring National Oil Corporation's operations in Libya and urged other governments to block its assets to try to limit Gaddafi's ability to raise oil revenues to support his activities.
The companies on Treasury's list include Arabian Gulf Oil Company, Mediterranean Oil Services GMBH, Ras Lanuf Oil and Gas Processing Company and Waha Oil Company. (Reporting by Glenn Somerville, Editing by Sandra Maler)