Swiss oil trader Vitol may supply Libya with fuel
The future of oil-rich Libya and its energy supplies may depend in part on the independence of the country’s National Oil Corp., Swiss oil trader Vitol said. Vitol, the largest Continue Reading
Glencore Says Disputed Libyan Oil Deal Has Global Support
Glencore Plc oil chief Alex Beard defended the company’s crude-export contract with Libya’s National Oil Corp. in the west of the divided country after the competing administration in the east Continue Reading
East Libya Ready to Stop Tankers If Rival Sells Using Glencore
The internationally recognized government in eastern Libya will try to stop any tanker operating for Glencore Plc from loading oil at the nation’s ports if the company does business with Continue Reading
Glencore seals Libyan oil deal in scramble for profits
The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, September 30, 2015. Trading house Glencore has secured a deal to buy as much as half of the oil Libya is currently exporting, market sources said, as it looks to boost trading to help offset flagging profits from mining. For war-torn, cash-strapped Libya it offers steady sales to international buyers and shifts to Glencore the risks associated with loading oil and chartering vessels at ports where operations have become more unpredictable due to the conflict in the north African nation. Under the arrangement with Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp. (NOC), which began in September, Glencore loads and finds buyers for all the Sarir and Messla crude oil exported from the Marsa el-Hariga port near the country’s eastern border with Egypt. While Libyan oil exports peaked at 1.6 million barrels per day, battles […]
Libya
Libya joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1962, a year after Libya began exporting oil. 1 Libya holds the largest amount of proved crude oil reserves in Africa, the fifth-largest amount of proved natural gas reserves on the continent, and in past years was an important contributor to the global supply of light, sweet (low sulfur) crude oil, which Libya mostly exports to European markets. Libya’s hydrocarbon production and exports have been substantially affected by civil unrest over the past few years. In 2011, Libya’s hydrocarbon exports suffered a near-total disruption during the civil war, and the minimal and sporadic production that occurred was mostly consumed domestically. In response to the loss of Libya’s oil supplies in the summer of 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) coordinated a release of 60 million barrels of oil from the emergency stocks of its member countries through the […]
Egypt’s Dollar Crunch Siphoning Steam From Renewable Energy Plan
Egypt’s foreign-currency crunch has solar developers concerned about financing new power plants. Cairo Solar has lined up a $51 million loan from the International Finance Corp. for a planned 50-megawatt solar farm. Chairman Hisham Tawfik says he’s worried about paying it back because the government has guaranteed payment for the electricity it will produce — in Egyptian pounds. It’s been more than four years since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The political upheaval has scared away outside investors and tourists, and Egypt’s foreign reserves have dwindled to $16.6 billion, less than half 2010 levels. The central bank has imposed restrictions that make Tawfik’s pounds difficult to convert to other currencies. “How can I be happy if I have a lot of Egyptian pounds in the bank and I can’t change them to dollars,” Tawfik, who is also on the board of the Egyptian Renewable Energy Association, said […]
Leaked Emirati Emails Could Threaten Peace Talks in Libya
Photo Libyans demonstrated in Benghazi last month against a peace deal brokered by Bernardino Léon, a United Nations mediator. Credit Abdullah Doma/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — The United Arab Emirates was shipping weapons to favored belligerents in Libya over the summer in violation of an international arms embargo while simultaneously offering a highly paid job to the United Nations diplomat drafting a peace accord there, leaked Emirati emails show. The leaked correspondence is threatening to undermine months of Libyan talks by tarring the diplomat with an apparent conflict of interest. The emails also open a new window into the hidden and contradictory machinations of regional players like the United Arab Emirates that have helped inflame the fighting even as their diplomats say they support a peaceful solution. “The fact of the matter is that the U.A.E. violated the U.N. Security Council Resolution on Libya and continues to […]
East Libya Seeks to Grab Oil Contracts Amid Fight With Rivals
Libya’s internationally recognized government in the east of the country asked oil companies to contact its National Oil Corp. to review loading contracts, amid a battle to snatch buyers from the rival administration in the west of the divided country. Oil companies should contact the marketing department of the NOC administration in the eastern city of Bayda by Nov. 11 to review loading contracts, according to an e-mailed statement from the elected government. The eastern government will take legal action against any company that deals with any authority other that the NOC administration in Bayda, it said. “Any contracts brokered with any other parties than the bodies authorized by the legal National Oil Corp. are considered legally null and void,” according to the statement. Libya, with Africa’s largest oil reserves, pumped about 1.6 million barrels a day of crude before a 2011 rebellion ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. Like […]
Italy’s Eni reviews renewables for Algeria
Italian energy company Eni, the second-largest producer in Algeria, said it was reviewing renewable energy options in the country. Photo by photostock77/Shutterstock ALGIERS, Algeria, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said its representatives met with Algerian officials to discuss an energy mix that includes plans for a renewable energy industry. Claudio Descalzi, the chief executive officer at Eni, joined executives from state-owned energy company Sontrach, Algerian Energy Minister Salah Khebri and Prime Minister Abdelmallek Sellel to outline future strategies in the country . "Among other things, they discussed on the energy mix issue and Eni offered its willingness to consider projects in partnership for the development of renewable energy," the Italian company said in a statement. Algeria has the 10th largest natural gas deposits in the world and is the third-largest supplier to Europe. Its exports have been in decline, however, because of lagging foreign investments. The […]
Libya Oil Output Drops as Factions Fight Over Energy Assets
Libya’s oil output dropped below 400,000 barrels a day after the divided country’s internationally recognized government in the east closed a port run by a rival administration in the west, in a push to assert control over more energy assets and exports. Production fell after crude exports halted at the port of Zueitina, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for the National Oil Corp.’s management in the western city of Tripoli, said Wednesday by phone. Libya pumped 430,000 barrels a day in October, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Zueitina will be closed until further notice, and tankers seeking to load crude there must now register with a rival NOC management loyal to the internationally recognized government based in eastern Libya, according to a Petroleum Guard spokesman Ali al-Hasy. Vessels registered with the NOC administration in Tripoli, seat of an Islamist-backed government, are “illegitimate” and won’t be permitted to load at Zueitina, […]