Thanx Laye for sharing.
I think if Libya has oil, someone or some company has to drill for it, refine it, and market it for Libya and Libyans. I frankly couldn't care less who the Libyans choose to do that.
What I counsel is that all such contracts negotiated during the Gadhafi era are now NULL and VOID. They MUST be RE-NEGOTIATED with the New Libya Republic under a new mines and mineral regime similar to what Alpha Conde' did in La-Guinea. Libya and Libyans MUST realize the larger percentage of any oil and mineral revenue and I encourage the New Libya Republic to invest in the education and professional training of the Libyan citizenry. No longer will it be sustainable for Libya to rely on citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Turkey, Sweden, France, or the UK for construction, telecommunications, commerce, and agriculture. Libyan citizens are unemployed to the tune of 60% and there are eminently capable and bright young Libyans living all over the world. I encourage exiled Libyans to return home and take the ware of their lives into their own hands to determine what future Libya will have. A future for their children and future generations of The New Libya Republic. I am proud of Libyans. And Allah will be by their side in all they decide to do. If they allow these foreign economic migrants to do everything for them, we will be back to square one when various tribes will gravitate toward using these migrants as mercenaries. That will be the breakdown of the much-cherished national cohesion that will be required for a great life.
Haruna.
-----Original Message-----
From: Laye Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Aug 22, 2011 4:01 pm
Subject: [G_L] Fwd: The Scramble for Access to Libya’s Oil Wealth Begins
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/business/global/the-scramble-for-access-to-libyas-oil-wealth-begins.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
The Scramble for Access to Libya’s Oil Wealth Begins
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Even before Libyan rebels could take full control of Tripoli, Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini of Italy said on state television Monday that the Italian oil
company Eni “will have a No. 1 role in the future” in the North African country.
Mr. Frattini even reported that Eni technicians were already on their way to
eastern Libya to restart production. But Eni quickly denied that it had sent any
personnel to the still-unsettled region, which is Italy’s largest source of
imported oil.
The awkward exchange suggested that the scramble to secure access to Libya’s oil
wealth is already on. Libyan production has been largely shut down during the
long conflict between rebel forces and troops loyal to Libya’s leader, Col.
Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Eni, as well as BP of Britain, Total of France and OMV of Austria, were all big
producers before the fighting and stand to gain the most once the conflict ends.
American companies like Hess, ConocoPhillips and Marathon also made deals with
the Qaddafi regime, although the United States relies on Libya for less than 1
percent of its imports.
But it’s unclear whether a rebel government would honor the contracts struck by
the Qaddafi regime.
Even before taking power, the rebels were suggesting that they would remember
their friends and foes, and negotiate deals accordingly.
“We don’t have a problem with Western countries like Italians, French and U.K.
companies,” Abdeljalil Mayouf, a spokesman for the Libyan rebel oil company
Agoco, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “But we may have some political issues
with Russia, China and Brazil.”
Russia, China and Brazil did not back strong sanctions on the Qaddafi regime,
and they generally supported a negotiated settlement to the fighting. All three
countries have large oil companies that are seeking deals in Africa for oil
reserves.
Before fighting broke out in February, Libya exported 1.3 million barrels of oil
a day. While that is less than 2 percent of world supplies, only Nigeria,
Algeria and a few other countries can supply equivalent grades of sweet crude
that many refineries around the world depend on.
The European benchmark price for oil fell moderately on Monday morning on
speculation that Libyan oil production would quickly begin ramping up again.
Brent crude oil prices initially dropped more than 3 percent, but in
midafternoon trading in New York, Brent was at $107.60 a barrel, down $1.02. The
American benchmark crude, which is less sensitive to events in the Middle East,
was up slightly to $83.36.
Colonel Qaddafi proved to be a problematic partner for the international oil
companies, frequently raising fees and taxes and making other demands. A new
government with close ties to NATO may be an easier partner for Western nations
to deal with. Some experts say that given a free hand, oil companies could find
considerably more oil in Libya than they were able to locate under the
restrictions placed by the Qaddafi government.
The civil war forced major oil companies to withdraw their personnel, and
production plummeted over the last several months to a minuscule 60,000 barrels
a day, according to the International Energy Agency. That would account for
roughly 20 percent of the country’s normal domestic needs. The rebels were able
to export a modest amount of crude that was stored at ports, and sold it for
cash on the international market through Qatar.
Oil experts caution that it could take as much as a year for Libya to make
repairs and get its oil fields back to full speed, although exports may resume
within a couple of months.
Since oil is far and away Libya’s most important economic resource, any new
government would be obliged to make oil production a high priority. That means
establishing security over major fields, pipelines, refineries and ports, and
quickly establishing relationships with foreign oil companies.
Most oil companies involved in Libya denied to comment Monday or said they would
wait to see how the security situation evolved before sending their personnel
into the country.
“Clearly we are monitoring the situation like everyone,” said Jon Pepper, a Hess
vice president. “Obviously the situation has to stabilize there before people
start thinking about resuming production.”
Italy in recent years has relied on Libya for more than 20 percent of its oil
imports, and France, Switzerland, Ireland and Austria all depended on Libya for
more than 15 percent of their imports before the fighting began. Libya’s
importance to France was underscored on Monday when President Nicolas Sarkozy
invited the head of the rebels’ national transitional council, Mustafa Abdel
Jalil, to Paris for consultations.
The United States does not rely on Libya for imports, but the reduction of
high-quality crude on world markets has pushed up oil and gasoline prices for
Americans as well.
Oil analysts say that most reports from oil service companies, which continued
to pay their Libyan crews through the war, indicate that there has been
relatively little damage to oil facilities. That suggests that production could
begin to ramp up in a matter of weeks. But it will probably take months for the
country to resume significant exports.
Eni’s chairman, Giuseppe Recchi, recently told analysts that it would probably
take a year to return Libya to normal export levels. On Monday, he denied that
his company would immediately send back personnel, but he told reporters that he
expected the new Libyan government to respect his company’s previous contracts.
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