Shell halts oil exploration projects in Libya

Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday said it was halting oil exploration projects in Libya owing to "disappointing" results but said it would continue to study drilling opportunities in the country.

The Anglo-Dutch company's Libyan unit had informed Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) about the move and of its decision to also halt drilling for potential gas finds.

"Shell Exploration and Production Libya GmbH has informed the National Oil Corporation that it intends to suspend and abandon drilled wells and stop exploration in Libyan licenses LNGDA and Area 89," a Shell spokesman told AFP.

"Despite an extensive seismic and drilling campaign in these licences, results have been disappointing and further exploration cannot be economically justified."

The spokesman added: "NOC has acknowledged our decision and we have agreed to actively peruse new upstream business opportunities.

"Shell continues to view Libya as an important country in its portfolio and will maintain a representative office to pursue upstream business opportunities with the Libyan NOC."

Foreign energy companies are looking to profit from a more stable Libya, whose daily oil output is meanwhile gradually returning to levels seen before last year's uprising against Kadhafi

Source: AFP

www.soclibya.com 

British Petroleum (BP) to resume operations in Libya

A BP logo is seen on a petrol station in London November 2, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

By Hamid Ould Ahmed

BP is to resume exploration activities in Libya that it suspended because of last year's uprising, re-starting a relationship which under ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi landed the firm in the centre of a political storm.

BP's return is a milestone in the recovery of Libya's energy sector, though this was tempered by an announcement from Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) that it would pull out of fields in Libya on the grounds that they were not worth developing.

BP closed down operations in Libya and withdrew its expatriate workers in February last year, days after protests broke out in eastern Libya which with help from NATO warplanes and missiles eventually forced Gaddafi from power.

The oil firm follows other majors, including Eni (ENI.MI) and Total (TOTF.PA) in restarting Libya operations, despite lingering worries about security and the possibility the new authorities will try to re-negotiate contracts signed under Gaddafi.

The head of Libya's National Oil Corporation, Nuri Berruien, and Michael Daly, BP's executive president for exploration, agreed in Tripoli on Tuesday to lift force majeure, the legal mechanism under which BP suspended its operations last year.

The agreement was a "significant milestone in BP's plans to return to the exploration of onshore and offshore blocks," Daly said in a statement.

BP's then chief executive Tony Hayward travelled to Tripoli in 2007 to sign a $900 million contract giving the company the right to explore onshore and offshore fields in Libya, home of Africa's largest proven crude reserves.

But the deal quickly became entwined in a furious political row about Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

Megrahi died in Tripoli earlier this month, three years after Scottish authorities released him on the grounds he was terminally ill and did not have long to live. He had returned to a hero's welcome in Tripoli.

Megrahi's release caused a storm of anger in the United States, where many of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing were from. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee launched an inquiry into whether there was any connection between Megrahi's release and BP winning the exploration deal in Libya.

The company and the British government have always denied any connection between the two, although BP did say it lobbied for Megrahi's transfer to Libya.

SECURITY SITUATION 'MANAGEABLE'

Libya now is preparing for its first ever democratic elections, but the new government is weak and struggling to keep in check armed volunteer militias.

A BP spokesman said security was going to be "the determining factor on how quickly we move."

"At the moment we feel security and safety is sufficiently manageable."

It was likely to be months before BP had everything in place to re-start its exploration work, the spokesman said.

"The first thing we need to do is re-establish the contracts for drilling and logistics," he said.

"We need to get contractors back in for the onshore and offshore drilling .. Then it's back to work as soon as possible."

Shell said its decision to pull out of its Libyan contracts did not show any lack of faith in the oil sector, and said it would keep an office open in Libya to look into new deals.

In a statement, the company said it would abandon drilled wells and stop exploration on its two Libyan licenses. It said its departure had nothing to do with security issues and was taken on a purely commercial basis.

"Despite an extensive seismic and drilling campaign in these licenses, results have been disappointing and further exploration cannot be economically justified," a Shell spokesman said. "We have agreed to actively pursue new upstream business opportunities."

Asked about Shell's decision, NOC chief Berruien told Reuters by telephone: "All I can say right now is that Shell is not withdrawing from Libya. They are staying."

Source: Reuters

www.soclibya.com 

Libya Investigating Unipec, PetroChina Oil Deals Under Gaddafi

Libya's prosecutor office is probing possible irregularities in crude sales to oil giants China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. (0386.HK), or Unipec, and PetroChina Co. Ltd. (0857.HK) as part of a broader probe into Gadhafi-era oil deals, a file from Libya's Interpol bureau shows.

A file issued last month, attached to a request of arrest against the late ex-oil chief Shokri Ghanem by Libya's Interpol bureau, alleges he agreed to sell oil without contracts to Sinopec and Petrochina.

The probe could cloud the return of energy-thirsty China to Libya after being cast as a supporter of the former regime.

Ghanem, the ex-head of the National Oil Co., "also delivered quantities of crude oil to several companies such as Unipec and PetroChina before signing an agreement with them," the file seen by Dow Jones said.

Sinopec and PetroChina spokespeople declined to comment.

Though Ghanem has since died in Vienna's Danube river in mysterious circumstances, the probe into his dealings continues, said Abdulhamid Eljadi, an anticorruption activist who has been assisting the investigation.

The rebels who fought former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last year had previously said Chinese companies would be at a disadvantage for opposing the foreign intervention which led to them gaining power. However, Unipec, the trading unit of China's largest refiner Sinopec, has now returned to Libya as one of the country's largest oil buyers.

Sales to the two Chinese companies had previously been singled out for scrutiny by Libyan government officials.

The Libyan Interpol document said the issues surrounding sales to PetroChina and Unipec had been first raised by Najwa el-Beshti, who was head of contracts at NOC's marketing department under Ghanem.

Beshti told Dow Jones Newswires the sales had taken place between June 2008 and 2010.

She said contracts had typically been signed six months to a year after deliveries had started, potentially enabling the companies to pay with a delay.

Libyan oil officials have previously said companies which gained irregular deals under Gadhafi could be disadvantaged or lose deals under the new regime. Mustafa El-Huni, the official responsible for oil at the interim National Transitional Council, said last year it would be up to Libyan courts, not the NOC or the interim government, to establish if a contract is valid. "If [corruption] is proven, the law will judge," El-Huni said at the time.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

www.soclibya.com 

New decree regarding foreign ownership in Libyan companies released

A new decree has been issued by the Libyan Minister of Economy (No (103) 2012) setting out the purposes, conditions and percentages for foreign individuals or companies to set up business in Libya.

The decree is entitled ‘The participation of foreigners in partnership companies and opening of branches and representative offices for foreign companies in Libya’.

The decree allows for both foreign individuals and companies to partner with Libyan individuals and Libyan companies according to their activities registered and based in abroad. But not forming Holding Companies.

The partnership companies can either be:-

 Shareholding (musahama) companies according to degree (No (23) 2010)

Or

Limited (mahduda) companies.

For the shareholding companies, the capital must be a minimum of one million LYD of which 30% (300,000 LYD) must be deposited at a Libyan bank at the stage of establishment.

There are five compulsory requirements such registration documents, licences, evidence of depositing the agreed share etc.

The limited companies can be set by individuals and a minimum capital of 50,000 LYD is required.

There are six compulsory requirements such as proof of identity, he/she has no criminal past, no bankruptcy history, evidence of depositing the agreed share etc.

The main purposes of forming the partnerships are to achieve followings:-

       ·         Transfer and localise the know-how and technology.

       ·         Annual technical and vocational training programmes for Libyans.

       ·         Annual development programmes for local labour to replace non-Libyans.

       ·         The use of equipment, machinery, raw materials and production inputs available in the local market

The maximum shareholding allowed for non-Libyans is 65%, but in exceptional circumstances the Ministry of Economy can raise the limit to a maximum of 80%. Libyan partners will be represented according to their shares.

There are 12 areas of activity where foreign partnerships are prohibited from operating in Libya as follows:

1.      retail and wholesaling

2.      importation

3.      catering

4.      agencies/distributorships

5.      auditing and legal firms

6.      Land transporting

7.      Inspection activities on all good supplied or imported only with the permission from the Ministry.

8.      Marine handling, shipping and air cargo activities.

9.      Packaging activities.

10.   Stones and rockets crashing.

11.   Civil construction for contracts for less than 30 million LYD.

12.   Any other restricted activities only allowed for Libyans

This decree excludes companies which already have legally set up branches in Libya at the time of the passing of this decree and which are contracted to implement projects – until the expiry of their contracts .These companies must thereafter renew their documentation upon expiry.

Companies with no branches or partnership agreements can apply for branch offices for market research etc, without the right to sign contracts. Branch offices can be opened for 2 years and are renewable for another 2 years only once. Branch offices discovered to be transacting commercial activities would be closed.

Article 18 of the decree stipulates that applicants to form Libyan-foreign companies shall receive a reply regarding their application, either way, within 30 working days.

Companies wishing to renew their presence in Libya should do so 3 months before the expiry of their licence.

Finally the decree in its ultimate article No.(21), stipulates that this decree is in force as of its date of publication (13 May 2012), and that Libyan-foreign partnership companies must legalise their status within one year of the passing of this decree.

Please click here to download the decree (Arabic version) http://www.docstoc.com/docs/120962773/D103

NOTE: All documents in forming the partnerships must be translated into Arabic in LIBYA and must be stamped at Libyan embassies or counsels of the country-based individuals or companies.

by Sami Zaptia (Libya Herald) and improved by Tarek Alwan (SOC Libya Ltd).

For more information please get in touch at T: +44 208 9878450 or E: info@soclibya.com

Libya tries to calm wary investors over review

A man walks past the Azzawiya oil refinery in Zawiyah, 50km west of Tripoli. Reuters

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Libya is seeking to reassure investors concerned about a major review of nearly 10,000 business contracts that were signed by the government of the late Muammar Qaddafi.

A group of 20 people appointed by the National Transitional Council (NTC), the temporary government, is scrutinising the contracts to ensure fairness and hunt for evidence of corruption.

"We respect all agreement[s] and the contracts which have been signed by the old regime," said Mustafa El Huni, the deputy chairman of the NTC.

"Naturally there are some contracts which need to be reviewed, but even for those contracts, it will be in the spirit of mutual cooperation," he added. "We have no intention to nationalise or to do something radical. Even if it's an unfair agreement or unfair contract, we'll sit down with a spirit of cooperation and we'll come to agreement with those entities."

The contracts, which span sectors from hospitality to energy and affects investors all over the world, adds to the uncertainty surrounding Libya's future.

Next month, Libyans - including expats in places such as Dubai - are to select a national assembly that will draft the country's new constitution. The Libyan general prosecutor is also investigating domestic and foreign oil companies' records in connection with possible financial irregularities.

Security remains a concern in Libya, where just this month a demonstrator died during a protest outside the prime minister's office and a candidate for the national assembly was killed.

Until late last year, when the review was first announced, contracts with the government appeared to be one of the few things to remain stable in post-revolution Libya.

The NTC, which was established by the rebels during last year's uprising, has said since last summer that contracts signed with the old regime would remain untouched.

"Corruption is unfortunately still there, and unfortunately some of the wheelers [and] dealers who infested Libya in the old days are marketing themselves in the new Libya," said Aref Ali Nayed, the ambassador of Libya to the UAE.

Those signing deals need to ensure their projects share benefits with the Libyan people, he warned in Dubai recently. "If it does, then this project will have long-term success," said Mr Nayed.

"If it doesn't, watch out," he added. "You may be able to pull off the signing of the contract with this government, or with the transitional government, but in the long run you will lose."

If the Twenty Committee, as the 20-strong Libyan review group is nicknamed, were to check every single contract, the process could take three decades, said Adrian Creed, a partner at Clyde & Co, a law firm.

"Some high-level decisions have to be made about materiality or contract threshold because it won't happen otherwise," Mr Creed said.

"Libya has disappointed the investors' community twice before, so if you throw that in the bin it won't send a very good message to the market."

Some argue a good tactic for Libya may be to follow the example of the UK in its infrastructure spending reviews. There, a centralised system has worked through a team of accountants and consultants who swiftly check over contracts, said Hatim Gheriani, the head of global banking and markets for HSBC in Libya.

"Everyone knows what the terms are and therefore everyone gets a good deal," he said.

Mr El Huni sought to answer questions about the extent of the contract review by saying Libya as a nation would not veer towards extremism.

"It will be a moderate country," said Mr El Huni. "It will not be an extremist country economically, politically or even socially. We are a coherent society."

Source: The National

www.soclibya.com 

A Libyan miracle emerging from the Arab uprising

MEED’s Libya Focus Day highlights the business and project opportunities arising in the post-Gaddafi era

MEED’s remarkable Libya Focus Day in Dubai on 16 May brought together four representatives of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a heterodox group of Libyan business people, and dozens of uncertain foreigners wondering whether reconstruction in a country wrecked by four decades of dictatorial rule will ever come.

The Libyan business opportunity nevertheless has rarely looked more compelling. Oil production is expected to return next month to levels last seen before the start of the uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Libya can expect to earn at least $45bn from oil exports this year and its economy should return to its 2010 position. Gaddafi’s austere rejection of credit means the new regime’s got obligations, but practically no debts.

The loss of life and property during the uprising was severe and many suffered permanent injuries. But the damage done to the infrastructure was essentially superficial. As Libyans living in Libya never tire of saying, Libya in 2012 isn’t like Iraq in 2003.

Internal divisions will take longer to repair. Practically no Libyan with professional, management or business skills can escape the charge that they at least silently accepted the previous regime’s excesses. But a divide has nevertheless emerged between those that kept their heads down until Gaddafi was dead and the minority that rebelled before.

It expressed itself during the Libyan Focus Day and was voiced by Libya’s ambassador to the UAE, Aref Nayed, who warned foreign companies to steer clear of business people with links to the previous regime that were hawking themselves as middle-men now. Nayed was talking about members of the audience he was addressing.

And yet, there was little rancour in the room. Everyone lost materially, morally or spiritually under Gaddafi. All Libyans, including his closest family members, were victims.

Suleiman Al-Fortia, NTC housing and utilities committee head, said a government capital budget of about $30bn had been approved for 2012 and that more large-scale investment was planned in the years to come. This was a huge opportunity for the domestic private sector and foreign companies ready to deal with Libya in a new and better way.

But the legacy of the past is inescapable for the hundreds of western firms that were encouraged by their governments to participate in the Libyan economy in the years following Gaddafi’s renunciation of weapons of mass destruction in 2003.

Aecom’s programme director for housing and infrastructure board projects, Christopher Toomey, said his company signed up for Libya’s housing projects in 2008 and continued working on them until the US government imposed sanctions on the regime in February 2011. With sanctions lifted following the end of the uprising on 23 October 2011, Aecom has been seeking to revive its contract. It says it’s still valid and relevant. Toomey said that revisions could lift its ultimate long-term value to $100bn.

The issue for Aecom and companies in a similar position is to secure the new regime’s blessing for Gaddafi-era contracts. Al-Fortia said that more than 10,000 companies are now being reviewed by a special body empowered by the NTC to terminate those deemed to have been secured through corruption or other unfair practices.

Clyde & Co’s Adrian Creed said that it would be impossible to carry out a review of so many contracts credibly and quickly. One way round the problem is to approve contracts that are already at least 70 per cent complete. Another is for contracts with Libyan businesses, most of them worth $1m or less, to be automatically cleared.

The impact of the review is obvious to recent visitors to Libya who say that idle cranes and incomplete projects are the defining characteristic of many Libyan towns and cities.

The good news is that doing business and setting up a branch or company in Libya is possible and comparatively straightforward. Commercial laws dating as far back to the Libyan monarchy, which lasted from 1951 until 1969, are viable and enforceable, lawyers say.

The most radical views were expressed by Husni Bey, the charismatic chairman of the Husni Bey Group. Bey dismissed the National Transitional Council as redundant in light of elections to a public national conference due in June; repeated his call for the 10,000 contracts to be reactivated immediately or scrapped and called for the role of the Libyan state to be radically reduced.

NTC deputy chairman Mustafa el-Huni, a pragmatist who addressed MEED’s previous Libya conference in Dubai in 2010, was emollient. “Moderation is the main principle we shall follow,” he said. “There are some contracts and agreements that need to be reviewed, but if this will be done within the spirit of mutual co-operation. We have no intention to nationalise or do anything radical, even if they are unfair contracts.”

Not every Libyan in the room agreed. But at least they were prepared to listen. By the standards of other states divided by the dramas of the Arab uprising, that was a Libyan miracle in its own right.

Source: MEED. the article: http://www.meed.com/sectors/economy/government/a-libyan-miracle-emerging-from-the-arab-uprising/3138170.article#ixzz1v8CtFSOk

Libya currently producing nearly 1.5 mil b/d crude: NTC official

Libya is currently pumping nearly 1.5 million b/d of crude and expects to achieve "normal" pre-war production levels of 1.6 million b/d by mid-2012, Abdulbaset Abadi, a member of the oil committee at the National Transitional Council, said Wednesday.

Speaking at the MEED Libya Focus Day in Dubai, he said Libya was seeking foreign assistance to raise the country's oil production capacity to 2.2 million b/d in 2015 and 3 million b/d in 2020. The country's current production capacity is estimated at about 1.6 million b/d.

International oil companies with production sharing contracts signed with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Qadhafi that are due to expire in 2012 will get contract extensions on account of Libya's 2011 revolution, Abadi said.

Libya plans to announce the structure of new enhanced production sharing agreements to replace the Qadhafi-era contracts in 2015, he said. 

Separately, NTC deputy chairman Mustafa el-Huni said Wednesday at the same event that Libya's 2012 budget assumes crude oil production of 1.5 million b/d and exports of 1.3 million b/d.

The national budget of Libyan Dinar 68 billion ($54.38 billion) for the 2012 calendar year, approved in February, is also based on projected natural gas output of 16 billion cubic meters this year, he told delegates.

The budget includes Dinar 38 million earmarked for development spending, including investment in civil and petroleum sector infrastructure, Huni said.

The NTC projects government revenues from the petroleum sector of about $45 million in 2012. The remainder of the budget will be funded from Libyan assets that were frozen in overseas accounts during the country's 2011 revolution, he said.

Huni reaffirmed Libya's intention to honour all agreements with foreign investors signed by the Qadhafi regime.

"We have no intention to nationalize or do something radical," he said.

"Libya is in essence a moderate country that will look at implementing moderate policies." Elections for a National Congress to replace the NTC are scheduled for June. The 85 members of the NTC have pledged not to run for office in order to minimize the transitional government's influence on the election, Huni said.

Abadi said in his presentation that a number of new oil and gas discoveries in Libya in 2009 and 2010, including 24 reported in 2010, had raised the country's proven and probable reserves to an estimated 45 billion barrels of crude oil and 55 Tcf of gas.

US Geological Survey data put the potential for further Libyan oil discoveries at more than 8 billion barrels, including 4.7 billion barrels of conventional onshore crude, while undiscovered gas potential was put at more than 43 Tcf, Abadi said.

He presented an encouraging picture of the current state of Libya's oil export facilities: while the terminal at the port of Sidra had been destroyed by pro-Qadhafi forces, there were no significant operational problems at Brega, Marsa or Tobruk, and only minor damage at Ras Lanuf.

The Libyan petroleum sector's major immediate requirements were the replacement of numerous 4X4 vehicles destroyed in the recent conflict, telephone and Internet services at oil and gas facilities, security services to protect expatriate workers and workforce housing, Abadi said.

The biggest short-term bottleneck was likely to be communications infrastructure, which would take some time to extend to remote oil and gas facilities, he said.

www.soclibya.com

Source: Platts  by Tamsin Carlisle,  and edited by Jonathan Fox

UK Companies Poised For Libya Work

British companies are gearing up to compete for billions of pounds worth of contracts in Libya as the oil-rich nation presses ahead with plans to restore its tattered infrastructure, including gas, housing, transport and utilities.

Ahead of elections for the new government expected to be held in June, businesses, officials and advisers are converging on London on Monday for a one-day conference on how companies can best position themselves to win a series of lucrative tenders expected to be awarded over the next few years, according to the Financial Times. 

Much of Libya’s infrastructure is in a dire state, with transport, banking, telecommunications, power generation, education, water and sewerage systems in poor condition even by regional standards. Although its oil extraction infrastructure is considered the jewel of its industrial base, its refineries are widely regarded as outmoded and in need of upgrading.

But Libya is also wealthy. Oil income exceeded $12bn in the first quarter of this year, according to official government figures, making reconstruction plans viable. UK Trade and Investment, which promotes British commercial interests abroad and is backing the conference, has estimated that the rebuilding of Libya could be worth $126bn over the next decade.

This conference was oraginsed by City and Financial and supported by many company and SOC Libya Ltd was one of them and its managing director Tarek Alwan was among the speakers.

For more information about the event please see below

http://www.cityandfinancial.com/conference/rebuilding_libya_2_discounted

Source: Financial Times and SOC Libya

www.soclibya.com  

Azerbaijan Offers to Build Refinery, Filling Stations in Libya

Azerbaijan has proposed building an oil refinery and gasoline filling stations in Libya, the Azeri Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today.

Azerbaijan could build the refinery on its own or with Libya, Azeri Ambassador Agasalim Shukurov said at a meeting with Abdulrahman Ben Yezza, Libya’s oil and gas minister, according to the statement. State Oil Co. (ATPG) of Azerbaijan, known as Socar, is building a refinery in Turkey’s Izmir region. It also has filling stations in Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Georgia.

By Zulfugar Agayev from Bloomberg 

SNC-Lavalin hit with $1.65 billion class-action over alleged misconduct in Libya

The entrance to SNC-Lavalin headquarters in Montreal is shown in a photo released on June 3, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

MONTREAL - Embattled engineering giant SNC-Lavalin is facing two more class-action lawsuits seeking more than $1.5 billion on behalf of investors who saw the value of their asset plummet on revelations about payments in North Africa.

Rochon Genova LLP and the Ontario branch of Siskinds LLP announced lawsuits Wednesday that allege the Montreal-based company violated securities law by misrepresenting that it had adequate controls and procedures to ensure accurate disclosure and financial reporting.

"When a company repeatedly highlights its strong governance practices to the investing public, revelations of serious misconduct cause damage to the company's reputation and, in turn, substantial harm to its investors," Rochon Genova lawyer John Archibald said in a news release.

That suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court seeks $1.5 billion for misrepresentations and $150 million in punitive damages.

It was brought on behalf of all SNC-Lavalin investors, excluding residents of Quebec, who purchased securities of SNC-Lavalin between Feb. 1, 2007 and Feb. 28, 2012 or who purchased debentures of the company through the company's June 2009 prospectus offering.

The lead plaintiff is Brent Gray, a resident of Surrey, B.C., who purchased 600 shares in January at $52.20 per share.

The suit claims, among other things, that a 2009 prospectus offering $350 million of debentures — a type of bond issued to raise capital — failed to contain "full, true and plain disclosure of all material facts."

"As a result of the misrepresentations alleged herein, the prices at which debentures were offered pursuant to the prospectus were inflated, and class members who purchased the debentures in the primary market suffered damages a result," said the 26-page statement of claim.

In addition to current and former members of SNC's board of directors, those named include SNC-Lavalin International chairman Michael Novak and subsidiary vice-presidents Charles Azar and Andre Beland, who are in charge of Libyan operations.

The claim said these officials, former CEO Pierre Duhaime and former controller Stephane Roy assisted executive vice-president Riadh Ben Aissa in arranging "improper or unlawful payments" to secure contracts in Libya.

"SNC-Lavalin and the defendants knew, ought to have known, or were reckless in not knowing that the former Gadhafi regime awarded contracts for infrastructure projects in Libya in return for improper or unlawful payments," the suit states.

Late Wednesday, Siskinds LLP said that it has filed a proposed class action in the Ontario Superior Court on behalf of the Trustees of the Drywall Acoustic Lathing and Insulation Local 675 Pension Fund. The fund is asking to act on behalf of all shareholders between Nov. 6, 2009 and Feb. 27, 2012.

The statement, which names SNC executives Pierre Duhaime, Gilles Laramée, Riadh Ben Aïssa, Stéphane Roy, Gwynn Morgan, Ian Bourne and Michael Novak, did not disclose how much the suit is seeking.

Duhaime, Roy and Ben Aissa have lost their jobs with SNC-Lavalin. Ben Aissa, SNC's former head of construction, is in a Swiss jail on suspicion of corrupting a public official, fraud and money laundering tied to his dealings in North Africa.

The suit cites similar allegations to the one filed by Rochon Genova, including that SNC misrepresented the adequacy of its internal controls and net income during the 2010 fiscal year. It claims those alleged misrepresentations inflated SNC's share price.

The claims arises from alleged payments made by SNC-Lavalin to members, associates, and agents of the Gadhafi regime to secure contracts for infrastructure projects in Libya.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The suits follows a $250-million claim containing similar allegations that was filed by the Siskinds affiliate in Quebec in March on behalf of investors in that province.

SNC didn't immediately respond to this latest legal challenge. But it denied all liability in respect of the claims alleged in the earlier class-action and vowed to defend itself.

Shares of SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) dropped more than 20 per cent on Feb. 28, wiping out more than $1.5 billion of market value after the company disclosed the launching of an investigation into $35 million of undocumented payments.

Nearly $3.5 billion has been wiped from the company's value since SNC's shares peaked at $59.97. They lost 32 cents to close at $36.73 in Wednesday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The engineering and construction giant's initial review led to it finding $56 million of payments to unidentified foreign agents.

The company has insisted that none of the funds were directed to Libya.

Analyst Maxim Sytchev of AltaCorp Capital said the lawsuits will have no short-term impact on perceptions about SNC or its share performance.

He noted the suits could drag on for a long time, if they ever get certified by the courts.

"For the time being this is not an issue," he said in an interview.

"Here it looks like they're being sued for an event that only recently became apparent even to the people on the inside," he said, adding there is no proof of payments to Libya.

SNC-Lavalin removed $900 million worth of Libyan projects from its backlog in 2010 amid the civil war in the North African country.

The RCMP executed search warrants at SNC-Lavalin's headquarters at the request of Swiss police.

However, Bourne said he wouldn't be surprised if police aren't able to use their powers to shed more light on events.

Source: Canadian Business 

Austrian OMV opens youth centre in Tripoli

The official opening of the Libya Youth Center in Tripoli, Libya took place on May 8, 2012. The psycho-social centre was initiated by OMV to offer the prospect of a more carefree future to children and adolescents who have suffered from acts of war and their consequences in Libya.

The primary goal of the center is to enable young people to work through their experiences with professional support.

To implement the center, OMV works with the Hilfswerk Austria International, a relief organisation with many years of experience and extensive knowledge in the field of development co-operation. The co-operation agreement was signed in October 2011 for a period of two years with a total budget of EUR 2.1 mn.

OMV and Hilfswerk Austria International worked closely with the National Transitional Council and local stakeholders during the project planning and implementation phase, and, after 24 months, the centre will be handed over to the Libyan authorities, who will continue to run it.

Speaking about the Libya Youth Center, OMV CEO, Gerhard Roiss, said: “True partners prove themselves during times of crisis. We have a responsibility towards the citizens of Libya as well as to our local staff. Just as we continued to pay our local employees during times of unrest even though production was halted, we are now helping the younger generation to overcome their fears and carry the hope of a better future.”

Since spring 2012, the psycho-social center has acted as a drop-in centre for distressed children and adolescents between the ages of six and 25. Both international and Libyan experts are working at the center to provide the bestpossible support and therapy to all visitors. In addition, psycho-therapeutic counselling and support, leisure and outdoor activities and educational programs (language courses, IT courses, etc) are provided, with a particular emphasis placed on the inclusion of parents and families.

Moreover, mobile teams carry out educational work in schools, hospitals and local community centres to help those affected overcome any inhibitions and fears. It is through the co-operation with schools and public institutions that we are able to carry out this additional support work outside the centre.

As there are only a few centres of this kind in Tripoli, the need for psychosocial support is particularly high. 260 children and adolescents are currently being given counselling and support and to increase this number further, training and education will be offered to local volunteers who are active in the social sector. The goal is to give support to around 1,200 children and adolescents in the next two years.

According to official estimates, the violent struggle has resulted in some 30,000 deaths, with tens of thousands wounded. Around 170,000 children and young people in Tripoli and Benghazi have been badly traumatized.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft

With Group sales of EUR 34.05 bn and a workforce of 29,800 employees in 2011, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Exploration and Production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria and holds a balanced international portfolio. OMV had proven oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.13 bn boe as of year-end 2011 and a production of around 288,000 boe/d in 2011.

In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22.3 mn t and as of the end of 2011 approximately 4,500 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approximately 24 bcm of gas in 2011.

In Austria, OMV operates a 2,000 km long gas pipeline network with a marketed capacity of around 101 bcm in 2011. With a trading volume of around 40 bcm in 2011, OMV’s gas trading platform, the Central European Gas Hub, is amongst the most important hubs in Continental Europe. OMV further strengthened its position through the ownership of a 97% stake in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.

Sustainability

OMV is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, and an active supporter to the values enshrined in its Code of Conduct. These include a strong sense of responsibility towards the social and natural environment, especially in economically weak regions.

OMV continuously addresses economic, environmental and social issues related to its business in a responsible manner. The company reports on its activities in a sustainability report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.

Hilfswerk Austria International

Hilfswerk Austria International is a humanitarian, non-partisan and non-denominational organization that is part of the Österreichisches Hilfswerk relief organization. It provides support for civilian victims of war and environmental disasters on a global basis as well as development co-operation. Under the motto “face-to-face with Austria”, the organization has successfully helped others to help themselves on a sustainable basis – on a professional, non-bureaucratic and local level, for many years. The organization’s focus is on people and their health, improving their chances of survival and supporting families - especially children.

17 employees in Vienna and 92 employees and 1,002 volunteers within the project countries provide the best possible support for people in need. Hilfswerk Austria International ensure that all donations are used carefully and effectively and adhere to strict accounting controls

Source: BI-ME , Author: Posted by BI-ME staff