Eid Mubarak

كل العام وانتم بخير بمنا سبة عيد الفطر المبارك
اعاده الله عليكم باليمن والبركة

Wishing you all Eid Mubarak

Lino's Coffee (Italian) Opens Branch in Tripoli

I read an article in Tripoli Post saying that a new Italian coffee shop was opened in Gargaresh road in Siyahiya area.

The article say that The launching ceremony was attended by several invited guests who had a chance to taste some 16 kinds of coffee in an elegant atmosphere.These include Cappuccino, Cafetino Goloso, Cafetino Sfizzioso, American Coffee, Bolero, Budinoso and many others.

At Lino's Coffee you can be served breakfast from 7 am to 12 noon. There is also the evening session which extends until 11 pm.

I would like to hear a feedback or even a review about the shop in terms of quality, price, atmosphere etc, cos I am travelling to Tripoli this weekend for Eid holiday and would like to try it.

The Report by BBC Radio 4 about Libya (Part 1)

I was a guest at the BBC Radio 4 on a programme called The Report which was broadcasted last night (Thursday 10th Sep 2009) at 8pm, the programme was presented by James Silver who examined the potential effect of the decision to release Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi on trade relations between Libya and the West.

Well, I have to say the programme made Libya look like an evil state which I did not think was encouraging.

Having said that Libya is a major producer of high quality, sweet crude oil with low sulphur that makes it easier to refine.

Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, set at 41.5 billion barrels and natural gas reserves were estimated at 54.5 trillion cubic feet.

Libyas hydrocarbon reserves potential could be substantially higher, as only 25% of the country is covered by exploration agreements.
Libya currently produces 1.7 million barrels of oil a day and is aiming to increase production to 3 million barrels a day by the end of 2015. To achieve this aim, foreign investments are needed. Libya is as well Europes single biggest oil supplier and has become one of the most vocal members of OPEC.

"The Report" by BBC Radio 4

I was a guest at the BBC Radio 4 on a programme called The Report which was broadcasted last night (Thursday 10th Sep 2009) at 8pm, the programme was presented by James Silver who examined the potential effect of the decision to release Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi on trade relations between Libya and the West.

Libya has some of the world's biggest reserves of oil and gas - might British industry benefit from Libya's desire to develop its economy?

Well, I have to say the programme made Libya look like an evil state which I did not think was encouraging.

You may listen to the programme from the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mgy5h/The_Report_10_09_2009

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

Shokri Ghanem resigns

There were some rumours on various website circling that Shokri Ghanem the head of Libya’s NOC resigns but at the same time Libya's OPEC Governor, Ahmed Elghaber, said. "Nothing has been officially announced about his resignation, whether he wants to stay or go it's a personal decision," Elghaber told Zawya Dow Jones in a telephone interview. "He is still the top oil official and there is no replacement as of yet," he added.

Mr Ghamem Ghanem was prime minister of Libya between 2003 and 2006 and then took this post in Mar 2006 and he rapidly made many changes to the management of the NOC by replacing old top officials and bringing new ones which indeed upset many people within the corporation.

Well, they say “there is no smoke without fire”

Let’s wait and see, it’s only time will tell

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.

Ramadan Mubarak

مبارك عليكم هذا الشهر الكريم

كل عام وانتم بألف خير ، أعاد الله علينا وعليكم شهر الرحمة باليمن والبركات إن شاء الله

الفرق بين البلدان الفقيرة والغنية

للتفكير والعمل


الفرق بين البلدان الفقيرة والغنية لا يعود إلى قدمها في التاريخ

فمصر والهند يفوق عمرها 2000 عام وهي فقيرة

أما كندا واستراليا ونيوزيلندا لم تكن موجودة قبل 150 سنة بالرغم من ذلك هي دول متطورة وغنية

ولا يمكن رد فقر او غنى الدول إلى مواردها الطبيعية المتوفرة

لليابان مساحة محدودة ، 80% من اراضيها عبارة عن جبال غير صالحة للزراعة أو لتربية المواشي ،ولكنها تمثل ثاني اقوى اقتصاد في العالم .فهي عبارة عن مصنع كبير عائم ، يستورد المواد الخام لإنتاج مواد مصنعة يصدرها لكل أقطار العالم

مثال آخر هو سويسرا فبالرغم من عدم زراعتها للكاكاو إلا أنها تنتج أفضل شوكولا في العالم .ومساحتها الصغيرة لا تسمح لها بالزراعة أو بتربية المواشي لأكثر من اربعة أشهر في السنة إلا انها تنتج اهم منتجات الحليب وأغزرها في العالم.إنها بلد صغير ولكن صورة الأمن والنظام والعمل التي تعكسها ، جعلها أقوى خزنة في العالم

لم يجد المدراء من البلاد الغنية من خلال علاقتهم مع زملائهم من البلدان الفقيرة فروق تميزهم من الناحية العقلية ومن ناحية الإمكانيات عن هؤلاء في البلاد الفقيرة

اللون والعرق لا تأثير لهما . فالمهاجرون المصنفون كسالى في بلادهم الأصلية هم القوة المنتجة في البلاد الأوربية

أين يكمن الفرق إذا؟؟


يكمن الفرق في السلوك، المتشكل والمرسخ عبر سنين من التربية والثقافة

عند تحليل سلوك الناس في الدول المتقدمة نجد أن الغالبية يتبعون المبادئ التالية في حياتهم

الأخلاق كمبدأ اساسي

الاستقامة

المسؤولية

احترام القانون والنظام

احترام حقوق باقي المواطنين

حب العمل

حب الاستثمار والادخار

السعي للتفوق والأعمال الخارقة

الدقة

في البلدان الفقيرة لا يتبع هذه المبادئ سوى قلة قليلة من الناس في حياتهم اليومية


لسنا فقراء بسبب نقص في الموارد أو بسبب كون الطبيعة قاسية معنا


نحن فقراء بسبب عيب في السلوك. وبسبب عجزنا للتأقلم مع وتعلم المبادئ الأساسية التي جعلت وأدت إلى تطور المجتمعات وغناها

Verenex draws up draft claim against Libya

According to reuters (London) Verenex Energy Inc. of Canada has drawn up a claim against Libya for arbitration in its dispute with Libya over the company's proposed sale to China, the chief executive of Verenex said.
Libya has said it will pre-empt a C$10-a-share bid for Verenex, a small oil firm working in Libya, by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) [CNPET.UL]. But it has not made a formal offer for Verenex and has not given consent to the Chinese deal.
Verenex requires Libyan consent for the Chinese deal, announced in February, to go ahead. Verenex CEO Jim McFarland said that while it was still seeking that consent, filing for arbitration was among its legal options.
"We have put together a draft claim if we need to go that way, but clearly neither party wants to go the legal route on this thing and we've trying to figure out the best way to come up with an amicable solution," he said.

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

ExxonMobil Commences Drilling Libya's First Deepwater Well

Exploration Company announced today that its affiliate, ExxonMobil Libya Limited, has started drilling the first deepwater exploration well in Libya. The A1-20/3 well is being drilled in Contract Area 20 (CA 20) located offshore in the Sirte Basin, northeast of the city of Misrata, in the Libyan Mediterranean Sea.
The rig, contracted from Noble Africa Limited and named the Noble Homer Ferrington, is capable of operating in water depths up to 7,200 feet (2,195 meters), and can drill to a depth of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). It is designed for high efficiency and safety, and is able to operate in many global deepwater environments.

Phil Goss, President of ExxonMobil Libya Limited, said, “ExxonMobil has a long and successful history of working in Libya, where we previously operated as Esso and Mobil.

“We are pleased to start drilling our first deepwater exploration well in Libya based on the rigorous technical work conducted by our Libyan National and expatriate scientists, and in collaboration with the National Oil Corporation (NOC) to progress our exploration program.”
ExxonMobil has an unwavering commitment to operations safety and integrity and to protecting the environment. These core values are embedded in the way we work and implemented globally through our management systems. ExxonMobil has a proven track record of operating to the highest industry standards in all aspects of our business.

Elsewhere in Libya, ExxonMobil Libya Limited has completed two 3D seismic surveys in offshore Contract Areas 20 and 21, and three 2D seismic surveys in offshore Contract Areas 44, 20, and 21.

Libya to supply oil to Ghana

Libya could soon join Nigeria to supply crude oil to Ghana. A deal has been struck between the two leaders, President Atta Mills and Mr. Qadafi of Libya on the sidelines of the 13th Ordinary Summit of the African Union which took place in the city of Sirte - Libya from 1-3 July 2009, after the government expressed seriousness about the need for assistance to access crude oil on good terms.

The Vice-President, John Mahama, had earlier travelled to Libya on the same mission.The Presidential Spokesman Mahama Ayariga told Joy News, government hoped Libya could help Ghana to meet her daily oil demand of about 65,000 barrels.“Qadafi has indicated his commitment to assist (Ghana with oil).

It is now the question of the technical team working through the details of the deal and then the two countries will seal it; afterwards we will see the fruits of the discussion.”

Source: Myjoyonline & SOCLibya

LandSecs sells an Oxford Street’s block to Libya

Britain's biggest property company, Land Securities, has sold its Portman House retail and office building on London's Oxford Street to a Libyan state-backed investor for 155 million pounds ($254.8 million).

The multi-let 146,550 square foot (13,615 square metre) building in the heart of the West End shopping district has been bought by Kinloss Property Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Libyan Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO).

The asset generates a total rent of 11.5 million pounds a year and is held on a long lease from The Portman Estate on a term expiring in 2152.The purchase price reflects an annual income yield of just over 7 percent.

The acquisition of Portman House comes about six months after the Libyan Investment Authority agreed to buy a 172,000 square foot office building in London's City financial district for 120 million pounds.

I personally think it’s a good opportunity for Libya’s LAFICO to invest some of its money into property in London and especially at the heart of Oxford Street.
The building (If you do not know) is located at the corner of Oxford Street and Portman Street, just in front of Next and Primark. There are several retails shops belong to the building such as New Look, Boots, River Island etc.

(Reuters & SOC Libya)

Photos taken by Tarek Alwan, on 03/07/2009

Shell sponsored a training course in the area of a rapid response to emergencies.

Shell for Exploration and Production in Libya, set up lately a training programme for a rapid response to emergencies. The training course included the bases of treating with patients of traffic accidents, medical procedures on the scene of the accident and before the arrival of the injured to the hospital and how to deal with emergencies and urgent cases of road traffic casualties.
The training course aimed at raising the efficiency of hospital staff, from Emhamed Al-Mgariyf Hospital in Ajadabia and Albraiqa Area Clinic.

The trainees successfully completed the course, which run for 9 days, and they have been granted certificates of the first level of a rapid response to the emergencies which were approved by the surgeons at the Royal University in the United Kingdom in Edinburgh city.

It is understood that the British Company E.R.S which is specialised in this type of training, carried out this course.

And this training programme was part of the company's plans to implement sustainable development programmes in Libya.


Source: NOC Libya & Translated by SOC Libya

Tripoli Grand Prix (Formula One)

The Mellaha circuit home of the Tripoli Grand Prix, used to be one of the fastest if not finest in the world. Situated on the North African coast in Libya, surrounding the Mellaha salt lake, it opened in 1925. The famous Italian aviator Marshal Italo Balbo was made Governor of the former Italian Protectorate (Libya). Acting upon a suggestion he combined the race with a state lottery. More than four million tickets were sold and some of the money was used to create a world class facility. The covered grandstand could hold 10,000 lucky spectators while the pits rivalled the best that Europe had to offer. The other famous landmark was the huge white concrete timing tower. The track was described by Dick Seaman as 'The Ascot of motor racing circuits', and its host Marshall Balbo entertained everyone royally at the palace. The teams would stay at the luxurious Hotel Uaddan which included a casino and dinner theatre. For these reasons the Grand Prix was very popular with all of the teams. Much as Monte Carlo is today.
The song by the Libyan singer Ahmed Fakroun

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..

Quran Explorer

A website of the whole Noble Quran is available on the net, it’s unbelievably and incredibly excellent work. It's called Quran Explorer www.quranexplorer.com/quran

It simply consists of the whole Quran, with many options for Arabic and non- Arabic speakers to read or listen to it. There are six reciters such as Sheik Abdul-Bassit and has many translations of different languages such as English, French, Spanish etc.

You can easily search any chapter/Sura, Juz ,Hizb or verses, you can too choose the script and recite, well, it has many options. The most important option to me is the search ingine which allows visitors to search any word, sura or verse.

The number of visitors of the website is 05116676 since Sep 2006. Please visit the website and pass it on to your friends so it will spread to the world.

May Allah bless you all