Libya's LIA says stakes in UniCredit, Finmeccanica unfrozen

The Chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) said on Monday a Rome court had ordered the release of the sovereign wealth fund's stakes in Italian bank UniCredit and Italian air defence group Finmeccanica.

"I am very pleased with this result," LIA head Mohsen Derregia said in a statement.

The assets had been seized in March following a request by the International Criminal Court in the Hague on the grounds that they were held by LIA on behalf of the family of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In July LIA's stake in oil and gas group Eni was also unfrozen.

Source: Reuters 

Libya helps give Italy's Eni a Q1 profit boost

Italy's largest energy company Eni SpA said Friday that its first-quarter profits rose 42 percent on increased production in Libya and higher prices.

The Rome-based company said net profit for the first three months of 2012 was (EURO)3.62 billion ($4.78 billion), up from (EURO)2.55 billion in the same period last year, even though oil and natural gas production was down a modest 0.6 percent at 1.674 million barrels a day.

Eni shares nevertheless were trading up 0.1 percent to (EURO)16.58 on the Milan Stock Exchange.

Eni's Libyan production was cut off during the first quarter of last year due to the armed conflict in the country that endangered oil workers and blocked exports. Production is expected to reach levels achieved before the conflict of 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day by the second half of the year.

"Eni delivered excellent results thanks to the ongoing recovery of production in Libya and higher oil prices, despite the difficult market environment," Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni said in a statement.

Eni, however, said European refining operations were unprofitable. Eni said that was due to high raw oil prices, overcapacity in European refineries and sluggish fuel demand on higher consumer prices.

The company forecasts 2012 to be "challenging" due to the ongoing crisis and volatile market conditions.

Scaroni highlighted Eni's deal with the Russian oil giant Rosneft earlier this week to explore the Arctic, saying it "underpins our exploration opportunities for many years to come, further boosting our prospects for long-term growth".

Eni is active in Russia, where it has started production at the giant Samburgskoye field in Siberia. Production there is expected to reach 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Eni also reported successful exploration in Mozambique, and signed a contract with China National Offshore Oil Corporation to explore an offshore basin in China.

By Colleen Barry

AP Business Writer

Libyan wealth fund to appeal against asset seizure in Italy

Libya's sovereign fund said on Thursday it would appeal to recover around 1.1 billion euros of assets, including stakes in top Italian companies, that were seized in Italy last month at the request of the International Criminal Court.

Italian financial police had seized the assets saying they belonged to members of the Gaddafi family, but the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) said that was not true.

"These assets belong to LIA, which in turn is controlled by the governemnt of Libya on behalf of the Libyan people," the chairman of the fund's management committee, Mohsen Derregia, said in a statement.

He said LIA would file an appeal with the appeals court in Rome on Friday.

The seized assets include stakes in Italy's largest bank by assets UniCredit, oil and gas giant Eni, defence group Finmeccanica, carmaker Fiat, truckmaker Fiat Industrial and soccer club Juventus .

Reuters: (Reporting By Silvia Aloisi)

Libyan oil minister says output about 1.5 mln bpd

Libyan oil production has climbed to about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and the North African country hopes to reach pre-conflict levels by mid-year, Oil Minister Abdulrahman Ben Yazza told a news conference on Monday.

"We have reached 85 percent (of pre-conflict levels)," Ben Yazza told the Oil & Gas Libya 2012 conference. "We hope to reach our target by the middle of this year."

Libya produced 1.6 million bpd before last year's uprising, which led to the ouster and killing of leader Muammar Gaddafi, brought flows to a virtual standstill.

Libya this week hosts its first oil and gas conference since the end of last year's war. (Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Ali Shuaib; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: Reuters 

Libya's fuel sector returns to pre-war levels

Libya's fuel sector returns to pre-war levels - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Oil and gas production in Libya are returning to pre-conflict levels, with many oil-producing facilities up and running after being abandoned during the violence.

Getting the oil sector back on track was a priority for Libya's interim government, but the future of the industry is still uncertain.

Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh reports from an oil rig off the Libyan coast.

Eni cooperates in U.S. probe into Libya contracts

Italian oil and gas group Eni is cooperating with U.S. authorities in a probe of oil contracts in Libya, its chairman said on Tuesday.

"We are an open book. We are cooperating with authorities and we'll see how the situation develops," Giuseppe Recchi said on the sidelines of a conference when asked about an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC has requested from Eni documents related to an ongoing probe into "certain illicit payments to Libyan officials" possibly violating the U.S. Foreign Corruption Practice Act, Eni said in its 2011 annual report filing to the SEC.

Separately, Libya has started investigating foreign oil companies over their past relationships with the former Muammar Gaddafi government.

Source: Reuters 

Libya's NOC confirms 'routine' probe into oil contracts with foreign majors

Libya's prosecutor general is reviewing oil contracts with international oil companies concluded by the ousted regime of Moammar Qadhafi as a routine measure, the National Oil Company's marketing director Ahmed Shawki said Monday.

"We don't have any information about actual investigations inside the NOC. We don't have any issues so far with the international oil and gas contracts, and business is going forward," Shawki told Platts by telephone from Tripoli.

He was commenting on a report in the Wall Street Journal that the transitional government in Tripoli and the US Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating the activities of a number of oil companies such as Italy's Eni, the biggest operator in Libya, and France's Total.

The Wall Street Journal in a report Sunday quoted Abdelmajeed Saad, the deputy Libyan prosecutor, as saying that the companies were being investigated for alleged "financial irregularities."

The newspaper cited a March letter from the prosecutor's office to the NOC internal auditor asking him to supply oil company documents. It said the letter mentions oil transactions between NOC and international traders Vitol and Glencore as examples of documents it was seeking. It added that while the probe is focusing on Qadhafi-era contracts, the letter indicates that the request includes activities during the civil war last year.

But Shawki stressed that the work being carried out by the prosecutor general was a routine review of all production-sharing contracts and oil sales contracts as part of the transitional government's commitment to transparency and to make sure there were no irregularities.

"So far, I don't believe NOC has any problems with international oil companies, or contracts signed during the Qadhafi regime," Shawki said.

"As I said before, this is just a routine due diligence work done by the General Prosecutor for financial and contractual irregularities, and nothing more than this," he added.

Shawki said he could not comment about oil sales contracts concluded by the transitional government during the crisis because he was not involved. 

Neither Glencore nor Vitol could be contacted for comment because of the Easter holiday.

However, both Total and Eni have said that they are cooperating with the SEC investigation.

Eni said in a Form 20-F filing to the US SEC last week that on June 20, 2011, it received from the US regulator "a formal judicial request of collection and presentation of documents (subpoena) related to Eni's activities in Libya from 2008 to 2011."

It added that the subpoena "is related to an ongoing investigation without further clarifications nor specific alleged violations in connection to 'certain illicit payments to Libyan officials,' possibly violating the US Foreign Corruption Practice Act." The company had further received a request at the end of December 2011 for collection of further documentation aimed at integrating the previous subpoena, it said.

"Eni is fully cooperating with the US SEC," it said.

Total also referred to an investigation in similar filing to the US SEC.

"In June 2011, the US SEC issued to certain companies, including, among others, Total, a formal request for information related to their operations in Libya. Total is cooperating with this non-public investigation," the French major said without elaborating further.

The investigation comes at a crucial time for the new Libyan leaders as they try to grapple with a surge in violence in the aftermath of the revolution, which ended in October with Qadhafi's ouster and death. 

It also comes as Libya, an OPEC oil producers and major exporter to Europe, is ramping up its oil production, currently estimated at 1.4 million b/d, just short of a pre-crisis level of 1.7 million b/d.

Source: Platts 

Libya, U.S. Probe Oil-Company Deals

By BENOÎT FAUCON, SUMMER SAID and LIAM MOLONEY

Authorities in the U.S. and Libya are investigating oil giants such as Italy's Eni SpAE -0.02% and France's Total SA FP.FR +0.79% over their past relations with the fallen Libyan regime, potentially casting a cloud on the companies' ambitions to expand their foothold in the country with the largest oil reserves in Africa.

Last year, a civil war that toppled Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi nearly shut down the country's crude production, stressing global oil markets. But as oil-company operations return to normal, the probes may complicate the oil companies' business in the country.

Enlarge Image

Reuters

A civil war nearly shut Libya's crude output last year. Pictured, rebels headed toward a refinery in August.

The Libyan general prosecutor's office is investigating "Libyan and foreign operators in Libya" for possible "financial irregularities," its deputy head, Abdelmajeed Saad, said in an interview.

In a March letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the prosecutor's office formally asked the head of audit at Libya's National Oil Co. to supply oil-company documents. The letter mentions oil transactions between NOC and international traders Vitol Group andGlencore International GLEN.LN +5.75% PLC as examples of documents it is seeking. Though the Libyan probe focuses mostly on the Gadhafi era, the letter indicates that the request involving the traders includes the period of the country's civil war through the present.

The companies investigated also include Eni, the biggest foreign oil player in Libya, and Total, Mr. Saad said.

Neither the letter nor the deputy prosecutor mentioned any specific allegations involving the companies they named.

NOC's marketing manager, Ahmed Shawki, confirmed that NOC and its dealings with foreign companies, in general, are "under investigation from the general attorney."

"NOC submitted all documents. [The prosecutor's office is] doing the right thing," said Mr. Shawki, who wasn't in charge of the company under the late Mr. Gadhafi. He said he did "everything according to the law," but declined to comment on the Gadhafi era.

NOC Chairman Nuri Berruien declined to comment.

News of the Libyan probe comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent formal requests to Eni and Total related to the companies' Libyan businesses. U.S. oil giant Marathon Oil Corp. MRO -0.92% also said in its annual SEC filing in February that it was asked to hand over documents about its Libyan operations.

Eni said in its recent annual filing with the SEC that the U.S. investigation is in connection with "certain illicit payments to Libyan officials, possibly violating the U.S. Foreign Corruption Practice Act." The Italian company said the request covered the period from 2008, when Eni and others renegotiated contracts in Libya, to early 2011, when the civil war erupted.

Total also recently disclosed a request from the SEC in a filing, but didn't elaborate, except to say other companies also had been targeted.

The SEC, Eni, Glencore and Marathon all declined to comment. Total and Vitol were unavailable for comment.

The new Libyan regime, which faces its first elections in June, is under pressure to shed light on oil deals under Mr. Gadhafi, whose overthrow was driven partly by discontent over alleged corruption.

Mr. Saad, of the general prosecutor's office, said that if wrongdoing is established "the fine will be at least double the amount of money" lost to the Libyan government. Also, "it will affect securing any future contract," he said.

The pressure might complicate any future negotiation for international oil companies in Libya, one of the few countries still open to foreign investment at a time when others are tightening the noose on Westerners or are off limits due to sanctions. Eni, which normally gets about 14% of its total production form Libya, wants to double that amount and invest between $30 billion and $35 billion in the coming decade.

—Ángel González in Houston, Geraldine Amiel in Paris, Alexis Flynn and Iman Dawoud in London contributed to this article.

Write to Summer Said at summer.said@dowjones.com and Liam Moloney atliam.moloney@dowjones.com and Benoît Faucon at Benoit.Faucon@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared April 9, 2012, on page B3 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Libya, U.S. Probe Oil-Company Deals.

The Full Story behind Ban of Libyan Airlines from Operating in EU

Photo: Afriqiyah Airways plane is standstill at an airport. By Dr. Amin B. Marghani On 3 April, the European Commission adopted the 19th update a ruling banning Libyan carriers from flying into EU countries, saying that “following constructive consultations, Libyan authorities decided to adopt strong measures applicable to all air carriers licensed in Libya, which exclude them from flying into the EU until at least November 2012.” However, it is the Libyan Minister of Transportation to blame for encouraging such ruling by the EC Aviation Safety Committee (ECASC) by acknowledging its claims, right or wrong, and volunteered to prevent Libyan air carriers from operating into Europe’s airspace. In its ruling the ECASC used the Libyan minister’s ‘acknowledgement’ to do two things. First, even though there were no grounds to ban Libyan airlines, the uncalled for and clear acknowledgement by the Libyan minister of transportation save ECASC from making any efforts to explain its ban. Secondly, Libyan airlines would have been banned at any time provided that they violated their own Minister’s halt of flights. This way of dealing with such matter has no precedence. A Minister is supposed to protect the country’s interests. The Libyan airlines deserve protection since there were no safety issues related to the airlines, and almost all aircraft maintenance is carried out on Libyan aircraft with Lufthansa Technique, Air France or other European specialised firms. After all airlines are vital because they represent strategic organisations and they are important for the country’s economy and society. The story goes back to September 2011when the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA), looked to resume overseeing flight safety after the fall of Gaddafi, the Authority had to start an uphill struggle to come to grips with its responsibilities to oversee and enforce compliance to airworthiness regulations in a situation laden with security and administrative concerns. In the process, two questions were of significance and needed answers: first what to do about outstanding findings which remained unresolved since ICAO audit carried out in 2007, the other is to see that Libyan air carriers resume operations and restore their pre-war network. In this context, LCAA started dealing with the European Commission. The LCAA thought that a few weeks were required before airlines could reposition themselves to resume operations and wrote to the EC, suggesting that in the weeks as such required by the airlines, could be sufficient to mend many of the outstanding issues. LCAA was talking to CAAI, a British CAA consultancy, which would have been on the list of firms who can help effectively. In response, the Libyan CAA was warned by the EC that unless they met a stringent deadline to provide promised information, the matter would be referred to EC Aviation Safety Committee which would ban Libyan Operators. A technical team was quickly formed to make several presentations to Brussels showing airlines had no problems. At the last meeting the Libyan Minister of Transportation decided to head the team and lead the negotiations only to decide banning his own carriers from flying to Europe. Meanwhile, Libyan air carriers are leasing aircraft to resume operations and have to abstain from operating to Europe using Libyan registered aircraft unless the airworthiness is transferred to another country, the aircraft are reregistered in another country or until the EC Air Safety Committee is satisfied that The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority can carry out airworthiness oversight efficiently. Though the ECASC does not ban Libyan air carriers, and was made to show determination from ECASC that air safety is intolerant of less than perfection, this is a case that deserves investigation whether the ruling was genuinely necessary. The problem lies with the Libyan Civil Aviation Authorities (LCAA) as acknowledged by the Libyan Minister of Transport and the ECASC. LCAA has been working to adopt a fast track program to rectify issues but remains constrained by the consequences of war in Libya and continued lack of funding. The LCAA was unable to make good and quickly remedy certain ICAO findings (reported in 2007) after the war and, simply remained not fully ready to implement full airworthiness oversight and to EC satisfaction. Normally, since the shortfall in legislation and regulations and their enforcement is true, the Libyan Government should have sought assistance by negotiating an agreement with a neighbouring country, as permitted under the Chicago Convention, to include Libya in their airworthiness oversight jurisdiction until Libyan Civil Aviation Authority gets ready. But the Minister of Transportation chose to sacrifice the national airlines and request the exclusion of Libyan air carriers from Europe. True the airlines were under scrutiny but not condemned and thus not included in the EU banned airlines list. The Draconian measure explained by the ECASC as a consequence of the request made by the Libyan Minister, distancing itself somewhat from the decision. European Airlines will continue to operate into Libyan Airspace controlled by the same Libyan Airworthiness Authority. That is incredible. If the Libyan authorities asked to ban the Libyan National Airlines, because of the inadequacy of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority ‘Airworthiness ‘ deficiencies, then European Airlines should abstain from flying to Libya, too? If they don’t, Libyan airlines should be allowed back into European airspace. The Libyan Transport Minister’s abstention order should be revoked, and the Grip of the Transport Minister on the LCAA and airlines should be loosened and the LAW applied. He is supposed to be a politician and leave technical people to do their job. Libya should seek to include its airworthiness enforcement in another country’s civil aviation authority until LCAA becomes fit again. The writer is an air transport consultant. He contributed this article to The Tripoli Post.

LIBYA: ITALIAN BUSINESSES OPTIMISTIC, CLIMATE HAS CHANGED

ROME - Seven days to prepare what perhaps was the most important mission of Italian entrepreneurs and investors to Libya: one week was the amount of time that elapsed between the official communication of the mission and the delegation's departure, after the government in Tripoli asked the Italian Foreign Ministry and Assafrica & Mediterranean (the operative branch of the Confindustria in the region) to organise a visit on January 23 of top-level business representatives from the country, ranging from giants in the infrastructure sector to small and medium enterprises. Relations between Italy and Libya, reports Assafrica, have never been so positive economically and even the issues of the credit owed to 110 Italian companies seems to have been resolved, even if the distance between what is being offered by Tripoli (450 milion euros) and the money owed to Italian businesses (650 million euros) appears far apart; a gap can be closed because now the difference is the Italian government's ''problem''.

The mission did confirm that the Libyan market is not at all impermeable for Italian companies, which are actually welcomed, and downright needed. This approval seems to mainly be focussed on SMEs, which Tripoli has pinpointed to create joint companies in key areas in the food and agriculture, tourism and training sectors.

In the food and agriculture industry Italian businesses are needed in the processing and conservation sector (the Libyan Sea is among the most abundant in fish); in tourism there is a double need for Libya: increased tourism flow from Italy and to begin investment programmes from Italian players in the industry; in the training sector Libya needs to make use of an excellent school system, which now needs to be capitalised on to prepare a new generation in the technical and management sector.

Italian companies will find a highly receptive situation ''with a climate that appears to have certainly improved since I started to go to Libya in 1998,'' said Pier Luigi D'Agata, the director general of Assafrica & Mediterraneo, who led the delegation together with the president of the Italian-Libyan joint Chamber of Commerce, Antonio De Capoa. A climate that is different and better, which D'Agata translated with one phrase: ''you can detect a new willingness'', which can be seen in the receptiveness shown by Prime Minister Baghdadi al Mahmudi, who said that he will work to eliminate obstacles when he heard about the difficulties of Italian businesspeople obtaining visas, speculating that they could be granted in the airport. All this while Libya is cracking down on visas requested by European citizens.

Source: (ANSAmed).

Husband of the year awards

I received this email from a friend of mine and I found it so funny and hilarious so I decided to share with you.

Husband of the year awards

The honorable mention goes to :

The United Kingdom











...followed closely by
The United States of America










and then ......... ....... Poland











but 3rd Place must go to
.........
Greece












it was very very close
but the runner up prize
was awarded to....
...........! .. Serbia







but the winner of the
husband/partner of the year



......is






......... Ireland


Ya gotta love the Irish.

The Irish are true romantics.look, he's even
holding her hand..

Woman has Man in it;
Mrs. has Mr . in i! t;
Female has Male in it;
She has He in it;
Madam has Adam in it;


Okay, Okay, it all makes sense now...

I never looked at it this way before:



Ever notice how all of women's problems start with MEN?


MEN tal illness
MEN strual cramps
MEN tal breakdown
MEN opause
GUY necologist
AND ..
When we have REAL trouble, it's a
HISterectomy..

Libya Will Match China National’s Offer for Verenex

Libya will match China National Petroleum Corp.’s C$499 million ($443 million) offer for Verenex Energy Inc., as the North African nation seeks to retain a larger share of its oil wealth.

“The government is now arranging the funds to buy Verenex,” Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp., said in a telephone interview today from Tripoli.

Libya, the holder of the continent’s largest oil reserves, wants to increase its share of petroleum revenue as the budget is squeezed by oil’s slump from July’s record. National Oil is a partner of Verenex, a Canadian explorer, and a preemption clause gives Libya first right of refusal on buying the assets.

China National, the nation’s biggest oil company also known as CNPC, agreed in February to purchase Calgary-based Verenex for C$10 a share in cash.

“CNPC’s offer is final,” Ghanem said today. “It cannot increase it because it’s not like an auction; we will match it.”

Verenex, whose shares more than doubled after the company put itself up for sale in November following four straight years of losses, rose 5.6 percent to C$9 as of 10:13 a.m. in Toronto.

Ghanem said in a March 16 interview that Libya wanted to purchase Verenex for “commercial reasons,” and not to limit the access of China National to its national oil reserves. Verenex has assets in Libya that are worth “hundreds of millions” of dollars, he said at the time.

In a statement on March 18, Verenex reiterated that the proposed sale of the company to China National was subject to “certain consents” from Libya’s National Oil.

China National began exploring for oil in Libya in 2005. Verenex had agreed to pay the Chinese company a C$15 million breakup fee if the company scuttled the deal.

Source: bloomberg

Libyan PM opens “Libya Build Expo”

Dr. Baghdadi Mahmudi, “the Libyan General Secretaries of the General People's Committee” prime minster opens on Monday 18th May 2009, the Libya Build Expo which is considered as the largest International exhibition held in Libya, specialised in Building and Construction sector. It Exhibits latest technology in building construction including all of its Supporting Industries. Participants will meet with leading private sector experts.

According to Secretaries of the General People's Committee’s website, there are more than 540 local, regional and international companies participating in this event from 33 countries.

The opening was also attended by several Libyan ministers and head of foreign diplomats working in Libya.

The Exhibition is taking place at Tripoli International Fair ans will run from 18th to 21st of May 2009.

Source: Sahra Oil Consultancy & Secretaries of the General People's Committee

The Circus

The Circus
Originally uploaded by TAR3K

I took this photo when I was in the city of Bath in Easter break in April 2007, I like it and I like the Circus too, I took other photos from the city too. I stayed there for 3 days and I truly enjoyed the city and the history especially the Roman baths which were amazing. The city is a great and if you have not been there I think you should give a try.

Furthermore, I received an email from someone called Emma Williams on 3rd December 2008 to inform me that this photo was short-listed for inclusion in the 6th edition of Schmap Bath Guide and she was asking for my permission to allow this photo to be published.

Well, I was so pleased to receive such an email about one of my photos which I felt so proud.
Then on 19th December 2008 I received another email from Emma informing me that the photo has been selected for inclusion in the Guide.

I am extremely happy and proud at the same time and the reason is that I am NOT a professional photographer at all, I just like to take photos of places wherever I go and I publish some of them on Flicker, my website , Panoramio or Youtube.

Pont de Bir-Hakeim

Before I was travelling to Paris this March, I had a guide book about the city and while my wife was reading it and preparing where we should see and what to visit and suddenly and surprisingly she found some information about Libya at the heart of the French capital. It was a beautiful bridge and Metro station called Pont de Bir-Hakeim, so I decided, even before the visit, that I should see this place. Being a Libyan of course I was so happy to see it as I never ever heard of it before, so I thought I should share it with you.

Surprisingly, it is the closest Metro station to Eiffel Tower and I took as usual many photos which I enclose some of them and I even posted them in Flicker. It’s basically a bridge and on the top of it a railway for the metro.

Well, the origin of the name comes from a small & remote oasis in the Libyan Desert near Tobruk , it was where the First Free French Davison of General Koening defended the site from 26 may to 11 June 1942 against the German and Italian forces directed by the famous German General Rommel which was called the fox of the desert. It allowed and gave the British Army enough time to reorganise and subsequently allowing them to halt the Axis advance at the First Battle of El Alamein.