Canoel Announces Expansion Into Libya

Canoel International Energy Ltd. ("Canoel" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CIL) is pleased to announce that it is opening a representative office in Libya and is processing the opening of a local company registered under local Libyan laws.

Canoel has identified Libya as a country in which it will in the future seek to identify opportunities to conduct business and purchase exploration or production assets.

In Africa, Canoel already owns a small stake in Mafula Energy Ltd., a Zambia registered company, which has been awarded an exploration permit.

Andrea Cattaneo, the company's CEO, states "We are excited to start a settlement into Libya. We trust that this fast developing country will be a promising area where to deploy our exploration and & production skills."

Canoel's business plan is to grow through international acquisitions and exploration and to increase the production and reserves from its international inventory of oil and gas projects.

Libya's 2012 total oil and gas revenues are expected to be $54.9 Billion US Dollars.

(source: Libyan National Oil Corporation, NOC)

Earnings from oil exports account for more than 90% of Libya's National Income.

Global Witness: Libya's oil sector 'murky'

LONDON, April 18 (UPI) -- "Murky" practices by Libya's state-owned National Oil Co. highlight the need to reform the country's energy policies, Global Witness said.

The advocacy group said it obtained documents from Libya that indicate the country's oil revenues were grossly mismanaged under Moammar Gadhafi's government.

Global Witness said the documents suggest low-quality crude oil was sold on false pretenses to Exxon Mobil, which cost the company about $4 million. Other companies like Norwegian fertilizer company Yara received "large discounts" on natural gas prices from the Libyan National Oil Co.

"Murky dealings within Libya's National Oil Company, and the systematic mismanagement of the country's oil wealth have effectively denied millions of dollars to the people of Libya," said Giulio Carini, a campaigner at Global Witness.

Italian energy company Eni revealed in early April that it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged illegal payments to Libyan officials.

Global Witness called on the Libyan interim government to release all of its records on oil contracts for the sake of transparency.

"The case for reform of the country's oil sector could not be stronger or more urgent," said Carini.

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.

Malta eyes cheap Libyan oil, after Qatari talks

NTC undersecretary for oil and gas suggests joint meeting for Maltese technical team. 

Tonio Fenech at the recent Libya forum held in Malta.

Matthew Vella

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has been in discussions with the Libyan undersecretary at the ministry of oil and gas, Umar Shakmak, over Malta's hopes of obtaining assured supplies of Libyan oil and gas products on favourable terms, the English-language Libyan Herald has reported.

Shakmak was quoted in the NTC website suggesting during a joint meeting that a Maltese technical team be appointed to discuss the matter with specialists from the Libya National Oil Corporation.

"The two men are reported to have discussed other aspects of joint cooperation between Libya and Malta and ways of strengthening them," the Libyan Herald reported.

In February, Libya said it would review a request by the Jordanians to assure their oil and petroleum product needs at preferential prices.

Fenech will lead a Malta Enterprise delegation to Libya between April 16 and 19.  It will, however, concentrate on ports and maritime services.

At the end of February, Fench told a business forum on Libya that Malta identified itself strongly with Libya and wanted to play a strong role in its future.

MaltaToday revealed that Tonio Fenech also held meetings in Doha with Qatar's minister for energy and industry Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada.

The meeting - held in the presence of Frank Galea, Malta's newly-appointed ambassador to the Gulf States - was held at the Qatar Petroleum headquarters and was also attended by senior officials of QP and Qatar Petroleum International.

Fenech said that "government acknowledged that the important thing was to find an alternative solution to weathering this temporary spike in oil prices."

He said that government's ultimate priority was to safeguard employment, industry and businesses.

Source: Malta Today 

Libya's Agoco Oil Output at 331,000 bpd

Libya's Arabian Gulf Oil Co (Agoco) is producing around 331,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and hopes to reach full production in a few weeks, a spokesman said. "We hope that we will reach our normal production at the beginning of April," Agoco spokesman Abdeljalil Mayuf said by phone.

The Benghazi-based company had previously said it expected to return to full output of 425,000 bpd by the end of February. However, electricity problems, mainly a delay in restoring full power at some oil fields, have meant this has been pushed back.

Source: Gulf Oil and Gas

www.soclibya.com

Full return of Libyan oil to ease global pressure

Libya's oil exports are set to return to full pre-war levels by April this year, beating even the most optimistic estimates and potentially easing a global shortfall of oil caused by outages and conflicts.

Libya plans to export almost 1.4 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in April, a senior National Oil Corp (NOC) official said. At that level, its exports will exceed deliveries in February 2011 before the uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi began.

The rapid surge in flows, chiefly to importers in the Mediterranean, may ease pressure on global markets caused by conflicts in several oil producing countries as well as the loss of Iranian oil in July when Western sanctions kick in.

European refiners are struggling to cope as these supply problems have pushed Brent crude up by more than 17 percent since the start of the year to a high of $126.05 a barrel on Monday.

In post-war Libya, Italy remains Libya's biggest oil trading partner, accounting for almost a third of its total exports.

But Libya's second-biggest oil export destination for the year is now China, which has accounted for around 17 percent of total exports since the start of the year, NOC data shows. -

Source: Reuters

www.soclibya.com

Oil executives in Nigeria earn more than counterparts in UK, Libya, others -Research

A typical oil and gas executive in Nigeria earns nearly half a million dollars a year, chalking up the biggest premium for working abroad over salary levels in Britain, research released on Monday showed.

A typical senior oil and gas employee in Nigeria will receive a supplementary country premium worth 45 percent of base pay, taking the total salary to $454,400 a year, a study by the Curzon Partnership recruitment consultants showed.

This trumps packages for executives working in Libya or Iraq, who could expect a total salary of around $354,900, the research found.

Oil and gas workers from developed nations working in Nigeria are paid well because of the number of projects that need international staff, local skills shortages and big cultural differences, the firm said.

"Whilst Lagos is an exciting and well established place to work for expats, oil & gas companies recognise that the incentives have to be high, because life as an expat in Nigeria is so different from countries with broader industries and higher standards of living," Helen Di Mauro, a partner at the Curzon Partnership, said.

Oil industry executives in Indonesia can expect a premium of 40 percent in Indonesia, 35 percent in Ghana and 30 percent in Libya, Kurdistan or Egypt, the research found.

-Reuters

Libya resumes offshore exploration-NOC

Libya has resumed offshore exploration for the first time since the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s era, and the work is being carried out at a bloc operated by Italy’s Eni, the National Oil Corporation NOC) said on Monday.

“The National Oil Corporation announces the resumption of exploration activity in the maritime area next to Tripoli at bloc MN41 belonging to Italian company Eni,” said a statement on the NOC website. Arabic version (http://bit.ly/xnqAC4)

The bloc is about 100 km (62.5 miles) from Tripoli, it said.

NOC said on Feb. 27 it was resuming onshore exploration work.

Libya: A Market of Opportunities

This is the full interview I made with Global Trader where I talked about the opportunities Libya will be offering and of course the challenges but generally, I am very optimistic about the future of Libya

"FEW people have better first-hand knowledge of the business landscape in Libya than Tarek Alwan. The 38-year-old managing director of SOC Libya Ltd may live in London, where

his company is headquartered, but he’s a Libyan national who has been back to

Tripoli twice since the fall of Gaddafi. And it’s that level of local expertise and empathy with the market which he believes gives SOC Libya the edge. The company, an independent advisory and services consultancy that assists and supports international companies entering the Libyan market, was formed in 2008 by Libyan, English and German professionals, and also has a Tripoli office.

Global Trader spoke to Tarek in December, while he was in Tripoli, where he said he found the city “much safer than expected.”

“Things are improving gradually and it’s amazing to see people just getting on with their lives. The new interim government has already been formed and it is slowly progressing,” he said. “There are a few gunshots here and there by overenthusiastic young fighters, but measures are being taken to stop that.” Tarek, of course, has seen Libya in all its many hues – from being a land of limitless opportunities to one cowering under the tyranny of a dictator and his sons. There were times when British companies found it impossible to do business there, followed by times when they were enticed by promises of it being the new Klondike. Now the country stands at another important crossroads, but Tarek is cautiously optimistic that it will take the right direction and fulfill its potential.

“With all our natural resources and the skills and education of the young population, we can be the most prosperous nation in Africa,” he says. “You can see it happening now, but it will take time.” The British government, through UK Trade and Investment, is encouraging companies to enter the Libyan market before rivals from other countries fill the vacuum. Tarek agrees that that there are many opportunities across a whole range of sectors, with health being one of the most promising.

“There is a great need for hospitals and medical supplies, along with construction, because of what happened to the cities during the conflict,” he said.

“Oil and gas, as you would expect, is still the main driver of Libya’s economy, but there are opportunities, too, in infrastructure, communications, IT, education and services. In fact Libya requires everything from A-Z.” But quite apart from the fact that his company is specifically designed to facilitate trade between foreign companies and Libya, Tarek believes that it would be foolish for Brits to enter the market without doing the best research.

“Unless British companies get help and assistance, and perhaps link up with local partners, it can be very challenging, costly and time-consuming, and ultimately doomed to failure. My advice is to do lots of preparation work and decide what are the best options, either by forming a partnership or a joint venture. Preparation work can include establishing contacts with end users in the country.” And once there, Tarek is confident that British people will find that reconciliation rather than recrimination is the order of the day on the streets. “Generally the mood is good, with all Libyans eager to restore harmony, in spite of some of the former divisions, although this is not going to happen completely overnight,” he said.

● SOC Libya provides the following services: Finding the right business partners, promoting international companies, registering companies, opening branches or representative offices, due diligences, arranging business missions to Libya, appointments setting, drafting & negotiating contracts, implanting agreement and contracts, market research & analysis, assisting business Improvement, ongoing support, consulting on law issues, regulations, tax and legal opinions. Visit www.soclibya.com/

Libya –The Future 2 conference (Monday 14 Nov 2011 – London)

The event was a part of the dialogue started in September at the initial ‘Libya –The Future’ conference and will focus on how British industry & businesses can help Libya rebuild their country.

The first keynote speaker was Edward Oakden, managing director of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Sectors Group, who recently returned from a trade mission to Libya. He outlined how UKTI can assist and support UK businesses entering or re-entering the Libyan market.

The second keynote speaker was Tarek Alwan, Managing Director of SOC Libya Ltd, Who also was in Libya recently and planning to return soon, he gave a presentation about Oil and Gas

Robin Lamb, director general of the Libyan British Business Council (LBBC), gave details of the LBBC trade mission to Libya and the work of LBBC to promote British Businesses into Libya.

There was also be a video conference call to Tripoli to Sami Zaptia MD of ‘Know Libya’ (an Anglo-Libyan company) who was talking directly on progress of getting back to business and ways to facilitate & establish UK business entry and establish local partnerships.

The speaker panel Identified the business sectors who would need to be involved in the rebuilding of Libya in the immediate and medium term future including infrastructure, construction, communications, medical – hospitals, oil refineries, transport services, finance & business systems.

Libya – The Future 2 discussed areas for medium to long term partnership for example further oil exploration, tourism development, retail & service sectors.

Libya – The Future 2 Conference was the second in a series of events being organised by Foley Associates to track Libyan progress and focus on industry sectors. The third event in the series will be a two-day conference, workshop & exhibition showcasing international companies takes place 13-14 February 2012.

More info at www.libya-conference.co.uk

Contact Stephen Foley on 07966 200895 or 01706 378827 info@libya-conference.co.uk

Libya discovered seven new oil deposits in 2009

The Libyan National Oil company (NOC) announced on Thursday that seven new oil and gas deposits were discovered in 2009 in the country.

The report on activities in the oil sector released on the internet site of NOC, stressed that the oil companies which discovered those deposits were, the Austrian company, Woodside, which discovered an oil deposit in the basin of Ghadams, about 900 km South of Tripoli and the Canadian company, Verenex which discovered a gas deposit in Ghadams.

The Algerian company, Sonatrac also announced discovery of oil deposits in the basin of Ghadams, 230 km south of Tripoli, while the Spanish company, Repsol discovered on-shore oil reserves from 40 km south-west of Benghazi, 1,050 km east of Tripoli.

Similarly, the Libyan company, Golf Arabic Petroleum, discovered oil deposit at 190 km south of Tripoli in the basin of Ghadams and the Russian company, Tatnafet discovered an oil deposit in the basin of Ghadams, 345 km south of Tripoli.

The US company, Hess, also discovered onshore oil and gas in the deep seas of the Mediterranean, 56 km north of the Libyan coasts on the Gulf of Sirte central Libya.

The NOC paper also stressed the profits in terms of technology transfer made in favour of Libya by international companies which transferred their engineering works and services to the country, which enabled the NOC to promote the competences of the local staff and to develop training in that domain.

However, the secretary of NOC managing committee, Dr Shoukri Ghanem, announced recently that Libya recorded huge revenues thanks to the revision of canvassing and sharing agreements on oil production which are estimated at US$10 billion.

He also said that his country did not intend to invite companies to tender for new blocks in 2010 because of the collapse in the gross prices and the increase in invitations to tender on the global market.

Sources say that Libya, which is the third African oil producer, after Nigeria and Angola, with reserves estimated to date at 41.5 billion barrels, intends to increase its reserves to 6.5 billion barrels in 2010, with a planned production of 2.9 million barrels per day in 2015.

Tripoli - Pana

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

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

BP to start Libya exploratory drilling in 2010

BP will begin exploratory drilling next year on both its onshore and offshore concessions in Libya, the head of the company's operations in the North African country said on Thursday.

"By the end of this year we will have the first of several prospects in the pipeline for (exploratory) drilling starting next year," Hugh McDowell, General Manager of BP Exploration Libya, told the Energy Exchange North Africa Oil and Gas Summit in Tunisia.

"Preparations to start drilling, both onshore and offshore, next year are very well underway," he said.

Furthermore BP in 2007 signed a major exploration and production agreement with Libya's National Oil Company (NOC). The initial exploration commitment is set at a minimum of $900million, with significant additional appraisal and development expenditures upon exploration success in which could reach $6 billion if oil or gas were found.

BP and the LIC will explore around 54,000 square kilometres (km2) of the onshore Ghadames and offshore frontier Sirt basins, equivalent to more than ten of BP's operated deepwater blocks in Angola. Successful exploration could lead to the drilling of around 20 appraisal wells.

Source: Reuter and Sahra Oil Consultancy

Algeria & Libya must soften energy terms-industry

Algeria and Libya must improve the terms they offer international energy companies or risk them taking their capital and expertise elsewhere, industry executives operating in North Africa said on Wednesday.

Algeria and Libya tightened the terms on production and exploration contracts they offer to foreign majors when oil prices were high, but these look less attractive now that world prices are half the level they were at their peak last year.

"In the next two or three years we are going to see companies moving away to other areas," if the terms on offer in North Africa are not improved, said Felix Castaneda, Libya General Manager for Spain's Respol.

"If the oil price goes up to $140 that is a different matter. We are talking about the current market conditions," he told an Energy Exchange North Africa Oil and Gas summit in the Tunisian capital.

In Algeria, the world's fourth biggest gas exporter, a 2006 law gave state energy firm Sonatrach a minimum 51 percent in every oil and gas exploration contract awarded to foreign companies. Taxes levied on foreign firms have also gone up.
Libya, home to Africa's biggest proven oil reserves, has negotiated tough terms with foreign oil majors, including large bonuses.

"We will certainly complete and fulfil what we have on our plate," said Arno Dettlinger, vice president for North-West Europe, North Africa and Latin America with the Exploration and Production arm of OMV , which has projects in Libya.
"But ... on new ventures everything has to be evaluated on its merits," he told the conference.

"Very certainly no more kind of gold rush sentiment in our company and these days I think we would be very critically looking at any new opportunity under those circumstances."

Italy's ENI, which has major projects in both Algeria and Libya, was slightly more bullish.

"This situation has to be evaluated, each and every agreement on its own merit," said Abdurahman Benyezza, the company's vice president for Algeria, Tunisia, Mali and Morocco.

"For the time being we are maintaining our business plans and we are not planning to do anything drastic," he said.

ALGERIA'S GAS

Algeria faces particular challenges because it is committed to increasing gas production to supply new pipeline capacity to Europe in the next few years.
European Union states are looking to Algeria as one way of reducing reliance on gas supplies from Russia following this year's dispute between Moscow and Kiev which disrupted supplies.

In Algeria's last licensing round in December only four out of 11 contract areas were awarded because of slack interest from international companies. A fresh round has been launched, but would-be bidders say the fiscal terms are unchanged.
"We see little reason that this round will be any more successful than the previous," said Craig McMahon, Middle East and North Africa lead analyst with consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

"The current strategy is not promoting exploration, and without a change is likely to lead to a shortfall in new projects by 2015," he said.

He said the global financial crisis and the fall in oil prices had made international energy companies more selective about where and how they invest their capital. "In this environment, maintaining the attention of investors is key."

Source: Reuters

Libya decides to invest $10 bln to develop oilfields

Libya’s General People’s Committee decided on 09/09/2009 to invest 12.1 billion dinars ($9.92 billion) to develop and maintain 24 oil wells the government described as "technically, financially and economically proven productive fields", the cash will be borrowed from local banks and local Libyan or JV companies would only take part in the scheme.

It will include main oilfields among the 24 wells involved in the development programme such as Waha-Jalou North field which would see its production capacity up by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) with a total investment of 1.6 billion dinars.

And Nafoura-Oujlaa-Khleej field to increase it to 130,000 bpd of output capacity with a total investment of 1.3 billion dinars.

NOC is tasked with carrying out a study of 13 other fields to find out whether they would be included in another development plan.

Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, set at 41.5 billion barrels and Europe’s single biggest oil supplier. Libya, an OPEC member, produces about 1.8 million bpd of oil and hoping to increase its daily production to 3 million bpd by 2015.

Source: Reuters, GPC and Sahra Oil Consultancy Ltd

Libya's Ghanem not to attend OPEC meeting

According to the latest reports coming in and especially the one coming in from Reuters in which confirms what I have written before about the resignation of Mr. Shokri Ghanem.

Reuters stated that he will not be attending the upcoming OPEC meeting in Vienna and the reason is that he submitted his resignation and still waiting for a reply from the Libya authorities.

The main reason for him to resign according to Reuters is the dispute between Libyan and Verenex (Canadian Company) in which Libya was trying to buy the company and at the same time China was too trying to buy it and it led to Libya refusing to approve the deal for China.

The question now is who is going to replace him?

Sources: Reuters and Sahra Oil Consultancy

A new oil descovery in Libya

NOC announced on Sunday 30/8/2009 that Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCo), which is a wholly owned by NOC reports that it has drilled the B1-NC4 New Field Wildcat well to a total depth of 10,500 feet.

The well is located in Ghadames Basin approximately 190 km south of Tripoli

A new oil discovery by Tatneft

NOC announced on 25/08/2009 that Tatneft Libyan Branch being the second party with NOC in an EPSA agreement, reports that it has drilled A1-82/04 New Field Wildcat well to a total depth of 8.605 ft. The well is in Ghadames Basin located approximately 345 Km south of Tripoli.

Libya expects $2bn FDI; eyes downstream oil industry

Libya is expecting nearly $2bn in new foreign direct investment, Libya’s Privatisation and Investment Secretary Dr. Mahumd Al-Ftise said yesterday druing ‘Libya Opportunity & Challenge III’ which was orgnised by The Middle East Association and held in London on 23th July 2009 and It has the full support of UK Trade and Investment, the Libyan British Business Council, the Tripoli Chamber of Commerce, the Libyan Businessmen’s Council, the People’s Bureau of Libya in London and the British Embassy in Tripoli.

“We have over $2bn operating in FDI in Libya and we have almost $2bn in process,” Mahmud Al Ftise said on the sidelines of a Libya investment conference in London, without giving a time frame for the investment.

“This number is humble but we are really relaxed because the numbers are increasing. Libya has very big potential.”

Libya is also working on attracting investment totalling around $2.7bn in the downstream oil industry, Al Ftise added.

International investors see huge untapped potential for growth in the North African country, which was starved of investment during years of socialist policies and international sanctions.
Libya’s relations with the West took a leap forward in 2003 when it gave up banned weapons programmes and again last year when it agreed with the United States to settle compensation claims for attacks, including the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing.

Gaddafi’s foreign-educated son, Saif Al Islam, has helped push through economic reform measures, and the capital is now dotted with construction cranes building new hotels and business centres. But some investors’ enthusiasm has been tempered by red-tape, a creaking bureaucracy and uncertainty over how well protected property rights are in Libya.
Foreign investors complain of obstacles such as restrictions on visas.

Al Ftise said Libya was beginning to introduce visas for investors on arrival at Libyan airports, rather than from individual embassies.

“That is starting now, we are hoping it will come in probably after a month,” he said.
However, he said relaxation on visas was a two-way process with countries such as Britain.
“If you ease things here, we will ease things there.” Libya has privatised more than 100 companies since 2003 in industries including oil refining, tourism and real estate, of which 29 are 100 percent foreign owned.

The oil and gas sector still dominates the economy and is the destination for most foreign investment. BP and Exxon Mobil are among the international oil majors active in the sector.
Libyan banks are allowed to enter partnership agreements with foreign banks but the foreign partners are restricted to a

49 percent stake. Al Ftise said foreign investors can take 100 percent ownership in other sectors.

Abdulmagid el-Mansuri, Chairman of the Industry Ministry’s Foreign Investment Committee said that Libya was planning free trade zones for individual countries.

Source: Reuter and Sahra Oil Consultancy