Al Maabar unveils masterplan for AED 1,400 billion Al Waha development in Tripoli

Abu Dhabi based Al Maabar, a joint venture of Abu Dhabi's leading real estate and investment companies, today unveiled the masterplan for its AED 1,400 billion (US$ 375 million) Al Waha development in Libya.

Al Maabar is implementing the project through its joint venture, Libya for Real Estate Investment and Development, with the Libyan Investment and Development Company (LIDCO) and together they made the announcement at the Skyline Real Estate Exhibition, being held in Tripoli from the 14-16 December.

In developing the masterplan for Al Waha, the project's architects, Atkins Middle East, responsible for some of the most iconic developments across the region, took inspiration from Libya's rich cultural heritage. This masterplan is inspired by three specific elements including: Ghadamis, an ancient oasis town located in West Libya famous for its enchanting multi level architecture, is reflected through the podium level Al Waha Towers; The outer fa ade of The Towers is a reflection of one of Libya's intrinsic art forms - the mosaic. This is illustrated through the use of coloured glass pieces positioned to resemble the sophisticated designs often found in the ancient cites. Lastly, a reference to Libya's oases is dramatically recreated in the form of idyllic water features and lush verdant surroundings.

On completion the ambitious development will span over 65,000 sq meters (built up area will be 265,000 sq meters), and include a 31 storey luxurious hotel, 100 serviced apartments, a 28-storey office tower, 11 mid-rise residential buildings, a health club and a shopping mall that will include a supermarket, food court and a five screen cinema.

Yousef Al Nowais, the Managing Director of Al Maabar, said: "Al Waha reflects our ambitions to transcend the mixed-used realty landscape in Tripoli. By announcing this, state-of-the-art project, we hope to meet the capital's growing needs for contemporary housing, business and entertainment areas." "We have ensured that Al Waha captures the essence of Libya's unique heritage and history in an iconic and modern urban design. The project will follow international standards and guidelines for environmental and architecture practices," he added.

Speaking on the importance of the Libyan real estate market, Al Nowais said, "Libya's unique geography and size, and the rapid modernization the country is now undertaking presents significant opportunities for real estate development. Prior to entering the Libyan market our priority was to establish a local partnership with a company that not only had excellent experience in the local realty market, but also shared our common vision and long-term goals - LIDCO has proven to be an excellent choice. Furthermore, through this partnership, Al Maabar will be able to add real value to its partner country through knowledge transfer, job creation and true collaboration." he added.

Abdul Hameed Al Dabeeba, Chairman and General Manager of LIDCO said, "We are proud to unveil the masterplan for Al Waha, which we hope will help to raise international awareness of Tripoli as a growing real estate market. We commenced work on Al Waha last year, and despite the global economic crisis that has affected the realty and financial sectors, we are progressing on budget and on schedule and are on track to complete the project as planned." "When the development becomes operational in 2012, approximately 6000 people will work and live in this community", he concluded.

Source: WAM/MAB

No new Libyan oil round for at least a year

Reuters reported that Libya has enough companies exploring for oil and will not hold any licensing rounds for at least a year as it waits for demand prospects to improve, the OPEC member's top oil official said on Thursday.

"Our effort now is to develop what we have, rather than trying to find more new oil," Shokri Ghanem told Reuters after a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha.

Asked when a new round may be held, he said: "Not before one year. When you see the demand in the world is enough to absorb the available or excess capacity, then we will move".

After years of diplomatic isolation, Libya has opened up Africa's biggest proven oil reserves to dozens of foreign energy firms in a series of hotly-contested exploration rounds.

Those companies accepted tight revenue shares and an unpredictable, opaque operating environment for access to some of the world's most promising acreage.

Lower oil prices have made for a rockier ride this year for the foreign companies investing billions of dollars in Libya. Major firms operating there include BP, ENI and ExxonMobil.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi briefly raised the idea of oil sector nationalisation, and a dispute with Canadian oil firm Verenex ended with shareholders forced to sell the company to Libya.

The western-friendly Ghanem stepped down for a few weeks and his authority was challenged by a new Supreme Council for Energy Affairs (SCEA).

In another measure that rattled international energy firms, a government directive appeared stating that foreign joint ventures must have a Libyan national as chief executive.
Ghanem, chairman of Libya's state National Oil Corporation (NOC) since 2006, moved to reassure foreign oil firms on Thursday.

"Foreign companies working in Libya, especially in exploration, they will not be compelled to have a Libyan CEO. The oil industry is in a special situation. This is more about other sectors."
Neither existing nor new joint ventures in the oil industry would be affected, he said.

"It is of course a hope, an aim, that we see some Libyans being the CEOs of companies in Libya but of course we appreciate in the meantime the special nature of the oil companies."

OIL POLICY

Ghanem said NOC was still in charge of oil policy, playing down the role of the SCEA which is dominated by conservatives close to Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi.
"It is the NOC that is now responsible for the policy and the practices of the oil industry in Libya," he said.

Asked if decisions were approved by the SCEA, Ghanem said: "No, by the cabinet. Otherwise it is the NOC which oversees the activities of the companies which suggest to them proposals."
The creation of the SCEA led to speculation that Libya's powerful old guard was trying to undermine the authority of Ghanem, who foreign investors see as a sympathetic partner.
Investors were also worried that if the council took an active role in decision making it could further slow the pace of energy project approvals.

Sluggish bureaucracy aside, the drop in oil prices has led Libya and other OPEC members to look again at some investments to boost oil production.

Ghanem said on Saturday that Libya would not meet a 2012 oil output capacity target of 3 million barrels per day.

When oil prices peaked, national oil companies decided it was worth producing more and many new investment projects were studied, Ghanem said on Thursday.

"But then there were cost increases and oil prices went down," he said. "There is also a glut in capacity ... so it became non-economical to pursue so many expansions."

Party's Over For Libya's Epsa-4 Pioneers

One by one, the international oil companies (IOCs) that rushed into Libya to participate in the country's first two hotly contested Epsa-4 bid rounds in 2005 are preparing to pull out as their five-year exploration licenses approach expiry.

But despite the tricky year operators have endured in Libya, it is geology, rather than political interference by Tripoli, that is the key factor behind their departure (PIW Jun.8,p4). Discoveries on acreage awarded in those rounds have been rare, with only Canadian independent Verenex -- now set to be acquired by the state Libyan Investment Authority -- bucking the general trend of dry holes and small, subcommercial finds. "If over the next two to three years we don't see any serious exploration success, quite a few companies will be moving out of Libya," Repsol YPF's Libya country chief Felix Castaneda told a recent conference.

Australia independent Woodside is leading the way, announcing plans last month to exit Libya by early 2010. The UK's BG has also served notice that it intends to relinquish two of three exploration blocks it was awarded in 2005, and is soon expected to part with a third that it shares with Norway's Statoil. Woodside has had no drilling success on any of its four offshore Epsa-4 blocks, and is expected to let these licenses lapse next year, in addition to selling its interests in older Epsa-3 acreage. The writing is on the wall for a host of other companies -- Brazil's Petrobras and Australian partner Oil Search last month plugged and abandoned their single commitment well on offshore Block 18. Other winners from the first two Epsa-4 rounds are also understood to be on the way out, notably Chevron from Murzuq Area 177 and state China National Petroleum Corp. from offshore Block 17-4, while the jury is still out on the commerciality of the gas find made a year ago by the US' Hess on offshore Block 54.

Operators with older contracts and a few discoveries to their name face a rather different challenge, namely how to develop these finds under tougher Epsa-4 terms. When Libya's state National Oil Corp. (NOC) launched contract renegotiations with producers in 2007, it maintained that companies working under older and generally more generous terms would have to agree to new terms for the production phase conforming to the Epsa-4 model. For some, that crunch time is now fast approaching, and NOC is firmly in the driver's seat (PIW Nov.9,p5). Having spent millions on exploration, walking away is not an option, and many operators are keen to find a way to negotiate with NOC. But for those already facing technical challenges -- as Repsol and Austria's OMV are with their offshore NC-202 discoveries -- tougher Epsa-4 terms may jeopardize their development prospects.

New opportunities for IOCs in Libya remain limited, with one possible exception. Having taken note of the majors queuing up to develop Iraq's fields under service contracts, Shokri Ghanem -- albeit during his brief hiatus from his job as head of NOC -- recently said he would love to see the same happen in Libya (PIW Oct.26,p7). NOC has always maintained that Libya's bigger and mature producing fields are off-limits to foreign investors and will stay in the hands of NOC subsidiaries such as Agoco and Sirte Oil, quashing IOC hopes of landing re-development, enhanced oil recovery or production-sharing contracts for giant fields such as Sarir. New bid rounds are also on hold, at least until oil prices head back closer to $100 per barrel.

Source: Energy Intelligence Group

My picture on LBBC website

I am pleased to announce that this picture was chosen by the Libyan British Business Council to be used for its website and it’s placed on the main page. Although I am not a professional photographer but I think the picture a good presentation for business in Libya.

To see the original picture please see my page at Flicker and Panoramio.

The Libyan British Business Council (LBBC) is an organisation based in London and promoting British businesses to the Libyan market and it runs sometimes events on the Libyan market and arranging for missions to Libya, for more information please see their website http://www.lbbc.org.uk/