EID MUBARAK

EiD MuBaRak To ALl MuSLiMs aRoUnd ThE WoRlD…
MaY ThE WaRmTh AnD FeStIvItY Of ThE EiD SeAsOn FIll OuR WoRlD WiTh CoNtieNtMenT And PeAcE….

Woodside to exit the Libyan market

According to the latest reports coming from Sydney –Australia that Woodside Petroleum Ltd will exist Libya early next year, the company said in a statement it has negotiated a sale of its onshore assets in Libya and expects to exit the country early in 2010.

On Tuesday 23rd Nov 2009, forecast its full year oil and gas production in 2010 to fall to between 70 million and 75 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Woodside is Australia's second biggest oil and gas company reiterated its 2009 output guidance of 81 million to 86 million BOE. It said its 2010 forecast excludes a 5.8 million BOE contribution from its share of the Otway gas project, offshore Victoria state, which Woodside recently agreed to sell to Origin Energy Ltd.

Woodside Petroleum has gained entry into Libya in a consortium with exploration and production sharing agreements (EPSA) with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC). The agreement was signed on Sunday, 30 November 2003, in Tripoli and covers five exploration blocks in the onshore Sirte Basin in northern Libya and one in the onshore Murzuq Basin in western Libya.

The consortium was made up of operator Woodside (45 per cent), Spanish oil company Repsol (35 per cent) and Greece's Hellenic Petroleum (20 per cent). The minimum initial exploration commitment was 13 exploration wells.


Source: WSJ & Sahra Oil Consultancy Ltd

The sunk beetle (Volkswagen)!!!!!

Have you ever seen an old Tripoli registered car sunk in the sea? Well, I guess you never did, but what you see here is a genuine beetle in the deep sea.

I found it actually when I was surfing a Libyan website called scuba Libya (www.scubalibya.com) and was reading about the activities in which I was happy to see such activities going on in Libya especially the Libyan cost is known for having some of the most beautiful creatures and beautiful sceneries and I went to see the photo gallery and I saw this one, the website does not give information or details about the car or the location.

I was rather shocked and surprised to see and thought of sharing it with the rest of the world, by the way, apparently there is an old plane as well sunk the sea.

LIBYA: A MARKET CONTENDER EVENT

AS you may know that Libya is a country full of potential opportunities in all sectors for international companies and especially UK businesses the sectors such as oil and gas, tourism, construction, educational etc, and the UK visible exports to Libya totalled £280m in last year which was about 21% from the year before of 2007.

So for the reasons above and many more, London Chamber of Commerce organised the event which took place Tuesday 17th Nov 2009 and was held at the chamber’s head office in London from 3.30pm till 7pm in which I was one of the attendees.

It was a good chance to networking and to meet up with some people who I already know and more new and talk about Libya and the Libyan market in general and I have to say that all speakers mentioned how nice, kind and polite there and more importantly how professional and skilful they are in terms of doing business and negotiate.

Of course there was a lot of talk about how difficult the Libyan market can be, starting from obtaining visas to finalising deals and agreements.

The programme of the event was as follows:-

3.30PM REGISTRATION AND TEA

3.50PM CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS
Michael Thomas
Director General
Middle East Association

4.00PM DOING BUSINESS IN LIBYA
Paul Austin
Chairman
British Business Group, Tripoli

4.20PM POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Adela Gooch
Programme Director, Key States
Wilton Park

4.40PM COMMERCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
John Parr
Deputy Director General
Libyan - British Business Council


4.50PM SECTOR FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION
Dominic James
Director, Middle East and Africa
British Expertise

5.10PM CASE STUDY: APOLLO INSULATION
Colin Hawkes
Director
Apollo Insulation

5.25PM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

5.40PM CHAIRMAN’S CLOSING REMARKS

5.50PM DRINKS AND NETWORKING

7.00PM CLOSE

Alcatel-Lucent signed today 2 multi million Euro contracts in Libya with LPTIC telecom

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) announced today that it has further strengthened its working relationship with LPTIC (Libyan Post Telecommunications & Information Technology Company) by signing a multi million Euro contract to deploy the second phase of Eastern Libya's optical fiber network.


Alcatel-Lucent is currently finalizing the first phase of deployment which includes 4,400 kilometers of optical fibre across the eastern part of the country. Once the second stage is complete, which will add a further 2,800 kilometres, Libya will be equipped with one of Africa's most widespread fibre optic backbones able to interface with neighbouring countries and support Libyan economic growth and social development.

Under the terms of the contract extension, Alcatel-Lucent will provide LPTIC with a turnkey solution including a comprehensive set of services including design, project management, installation of the fiber optic system, testing and commissioning.


LPTIC will benefit from Alcatel-Lucent's worldwide leadership and experience in turnkey optical projects to upgrade its network by expanding capacity and bandwidth availability to offer its customers the most advanced services.

"This second phase is one of the largest and most significant telecommunications investments in our country," Dr Mohamed Samir Elbuni, CEO of LPTIC. "Libya will be equipped with a state of the art network which gives the entire country a competitive advantage and enables it to continue bridging the digital divide." "This ambitious deployment allows LPTIC to offer new services and opportunities to its end-users and illustrates Alcatel-Lucent ability to efficiently deploy a very large scale optical fiber backbone," said Vincenzo Nesci, President of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in Middle East and Africa. "This agreement further cements the well established cooperation we have with LPTIC and confirms Alcatel-Lucent's leading position on the African market." 2- AlJeel AlJadeed for Technology selects Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS solution for advanced broadband services in Libya Tripoli, Libya, November 4 , 2009 - Alcatel-Lucent ( Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) has been selected by Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology subsidiary company of LPTIC the telecom holding company in Libya, to deploy its IP/MPLS (Multi- Protocol Label Switching) backbone across the eastern part of Libya. Upon completion, Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology will be able to deliver advanced broadband services with superior quality to its residential and corporate subscribers.

Under the terms of this multi-million Euro contract, Alcatel-Lucent will provide Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology with a comprehensive set of services including design, consulting, project management, installation, commissioning, integration, on-site technical assistance and training.

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy an IP/MPLS infrastructure based on its Service Router portfolio and the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM), providing high bandwidth capacity for more personalized high-speed Internet, video and voice quality services.

"We recognize that to remain competitive, we must transform our network to IP to simplify our architecture and reduce our operational costs while still improving services for our residential and business customers," said Engineer Mofeed Dabbashi General Manager for Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology "The Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS portfolio is the ideal choice for making this transformation possible and as a result we can rapidly roll out broadband across the country with the highest quality advanced services." "Being selected by Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology for its transformation to IP means Libyans will benefit from of a state-of-the-art network with the highest availability and scalability to support personalized applications that require high-bandwidth," said Vincenzo Nesci President of Alcatel-Lucent activities in Middle East and Africa. "This win strengthens Alcatel-Lucent's leading position in the EMEA IP market and is further recognition of our ability to assist worldwide operators in their transformation to all-IP networks." Over 300 service providers in more than 100 countries around the world have selected the Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS portfolio as key elements of their IP transformation. According to Ovum RHK, Alcatel-Lucent holds the #2 position in the IP/MPLS Edge market segment worldwide.

About Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology The founding of Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology to contribute to the improvement and development of the local telecommunications market and the transfer and resettlement of new technologies in communications, including the company can compete locally and internationally, by providing all the the integrated communications services, fixed and mobile services, Internet and broadcast services, next generation network. Aljeel Aljadeed for Technology is the first integrated operator in Libya, which is pursuing a strategy based on diversity and integration in the delivery of services to win customer satisfaction. For more information please visit: http://www.aljeel.ly/website About LPTIC Libyan Post Telecommunications & Information Technology Company is the national telecom holding that provides fixed, mobile and internet related services throughout Libya.


Source: (UMCI News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)

Verenex, Libya aiming to meet deal deadline

Verenex Energy Inc. and Libya are hoping to finalise a deal by Friday to sell the company to a Libyan sovereign wealth fund, but a further delay is not ruled out, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) has agreed to pay C$7.09 a share for Verenex, a Canadian oil firm with assets in Libya, in a deal valued at around C$316 million.

Verenex said in an October 20 statement the parties have until November 6 to sign a definitive agreement.

A source with knowledge of the talks said the parties were hoping to finalize the deal by Friday, but did not rule out the prospect of the "outside date" being extended for a second time.

"We're still targeting getting everything done by the 6th," said the source, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. "That's the target."

"We are still in negotiations, but I hope we will finalise everything," said a second source.

The Verenex saga highlights the risks for Western investors in Libya, holder of Africa's largest oil reserves. The government blocked a deal by China, which offered to buy Verenex for C$10 a share in February. Libya's sovereign wealth fund later agreed to buy the firm for the lower price.

Some investors in Verenex were sceptical the deal would be tied up by Friday.

"To extend this for another few weeks would be par for the course," said one shareholder. "What's another few weeks when this thing has been dragging on for months?"

Verenex shares, which have risen as high as C$9.74 and fallen as low as C$5.60 this year, closed at C$6.77 on Tuesday.

Shokri Ghanem, head of Libya's National Oil Corp., declined on Wednesday to comment on Verenex. Verenex executives could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Libya has attracted a wave of interest including from Western energy companies such as BP Plc, as well as Chinese and Japanese firms, since most international sanctions were lifted in 2004.

Progress in developing new projects has slowed, partly in line with determination across resource-holding countries to maximise their own returns from oil and gas reserves.

Verenex holds promising oil assets in Libya, where it has drilled 21 wells with a 95 percent success rate.

Source: Reuters

Solar power from Sahara a step closer

The German-led Desertec initiative believes it can deliver power to Europe as early as 2015


A $400bn (£240bn) plan to provide Europe with solar power from the Sahara moved a step closer to reality today with the formation of a consortium of 12 companies to carry out the work.
The Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) aims to provide 15% of Europe's electricity by 2050 or earlier via power lines stretching across the desert and Mediterranean sea.

The German-led consortium was brought together by Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, and consists of some of country's biggest engineering and power companies, including Siemens, E.ON, ABB and Deutsche Bank.

It now believes the DII can deliver solar power to Europe as early as 2015.
"We have now passed a real milestone as the company has been founded and there is definitely a profitable business there," said Professor Peter Höppe, Munich Re's head of climate change.
"We see this as a big step towards solving the two main problems facing the world in the coming years - climate change and energy security," said Höppe.

The solar technology involved is known as concentrated solar power (CSP) which uses mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays on a fluid container. The super-heated liquid then drives turbines to generate electricity. The advantage over solar photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight directly to electricity, is that if sufficient hot fluid is stored in containers, the generators can run all night.

The technology is not new - there have been CSP plants running in the deserts of California and Nevada for two decades. But it is the scale of the Desertec initiative which is a first, along with plans to connect North Africa to Europe with new high voltage direct current cables which transport electricity over great distances with little loss.

Leading European energy industry expert Paul van Son has been appointed chief executive of DII and will recruit staff to build up a framework to make the building of both power plants and the grid infrastructure.

"We recognise and strongly support the Desertec vision as a pivotal part of the transition to a sustainable energy supply in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe," he said.
"Now the time has come to turn this vision into reality. That implies intensive cooperation with many parties and cultures to create a sound basis for feasible investments into renewable energy technologies and interconnected grids."

Desertec has gained broad support across Europe, with the newly elected German coalition government of Angela Merkel hoping the project could offset its dependence on Russian gas supplies.

North African governments are said to be keen, too, to further exploit their natural resources. Algeria and Libya are already big oil and gas suppliers to Europe.

Höppe said Munich Re had been concerned about the potential impact of climate change on the insurance business since the early 1970s. Extreme weather events related to climate change are already a reality and have the potential to be uninsurable against within a few decades, pointing to a possible crisis for the industry, he said.
"To keep our business model alive in 30 or 40 years we have to ensure things are still insurable," he said.

Munich Re also plans to invest in the new initiative and Höppe said banks were confident that they could raise sufficient funding to make the project work.

There are already some small CSP plants in Spain and North Africa, with the power used locally. But Desertec plans to see big power stations of one gigawatt operating in five years' time and exporting some current across the Mediterranean. The consortium stresses, though, that power generated by solar fields in North Africa would be used by North Africans as well as Europeans. North Africa has a small population relative to the size of its deserts. For similar reasons Australia is putting together its own Desertec initiative.

Dan Lewis, head of a new thinktank, the Economic Policy Centre, and author of a forthcoming energy policy paper, said: "This is just the sort of long-term, big-difference, energy security gain project that our UK short-term targets and policy framework can't deliver.

"Instead, we're spending ridiculous sums on no-hoper, marginal stuff like fusion energy and a massive smart meter rollout, that at best will only shave a fraction off peak demand."

Source: guarden.co.uk