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Angolan oil will peak in 2016, IMF says

Economic growth in Angola will slow in 2017 as oil output declines, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economy is forecast to expand by 5.3 percent this year, and by 5.5 percent and 5.9 percent in the following two years before the rate slows to 3.3 percent in 2017, IMF figures show. Crude oil production in Africa’s second-largest producer is set to decline to 1.77 million barrels a day in 2017 from 1.9 million barrels a day in 2016. “This reflects the expectation that oil production from currently known reserves will peak and then start to fall,” Nicholas Staines, the IMF representative in Angola, said last week. “The timing of this turnaround could well be pushed back as new reserves are discovered.” Angola produced 1.69 million barrels of oil a day last month. The country is attempting to diversify its economy away from oil, which accounts for […]

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Hundreds of Egyptians Sentenced to Death in Killing of a Police Officer

; A crowd gathered outside a courthouse in the town of Matay erupted in wailing and rage on Monday when a judge sentenced 529 defendants to death in just the second session of their trial, convicting them of murdering a police officer in anger at the ouster of the Islamist president. Here in the provincial capital just a few miles away, schools shut down early, and many stayed indoors fearing a riot, residents said. But the crowds went home, and soon the streets were quiet. After nine months of escalating repression that culminated in the extraordinary verdict, the military-led government that removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have finally cowed his supporters into near-silence here in […]

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Libyan Oil Output Plunges to Six-Month Low as Elephant Halted

Libya ’s oil production plunged to the lowest in about six months after protesters seeking jobs and development projects halted a western oilfield run by Eni Spa. (ENI) Demonstrators forced the Elephant field to halt today, cutting the nation’s production to 150,000 barrels a day from 230,000 barrels yesterday, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for National Oil Corp., said by phone from Tripoli. Paolo Scaroni, Eni’s chief executive officer, met with Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Theni today to discuss increasing production in the North African country. Protesters in the Western Mountain range, south west of the capital Tripoli, shut a valve on a pipeline that carries crude from Elephant to the Mellitah oil export terminal, Elharari said. The disruption is compounding a rebellion in the east, depriving the country from most of its oil production. Curtailed Libyan supply has bouyed the price of Europe ’s Brent crude this year, according […]

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Libya releases crew of renegade oil tanker

The crew of a renegade oil tanker seized by the U.S. Navy and handed over to Libya has been released and will be deported, a Libyan investigator said Monday. Al-Sadik al-Sour, the head investigator for Libya’s prosecutor general, did not give the nationality of the 21 crew members. He said they were referred to border police Monday to send them out of the country. Three eastern Libya militia members who were aboard the vessel will be detained for 14 days to be interrogated by prosecutors over their role in the saga. Al-Sour said investigations revealed that the crew members were working at gunpoint, according to witnesses interrogated at the militia-held eastern port where the vessel was loaded with an estimated 350,000 barrels of oil. The ship remains in Tripoli and is due to be unloaded in the port of Zawiya refinery, 40 kilometers (25 miles) […]

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Egyptian court sentences 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death: lawyer

An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death on Monday on charges including murder, a defense lawyer said, in a sharp escalation of a crackdown on the movement. Most were arrested during clashes which erupted in the southern province of Minya after the forced dispersal of two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo on August 14. Political turmoil has deepened in Egypt since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July. Security forces have killed hundreds of Brotherhood members in the street, and arrested thousands of others. "The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants, and 16 were acquitted," lawyer Ahmed al-Sharif told Reuters. The ruling can be appealed. The charges against the group, on trial in Minya since Saturday, include violence, inciting murder, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging public and private […]

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Libyan army in heavy fighting with oil port rebels

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels occupying oil ports clashed with troops on Saturday after attacking an army base where reinforcements were preparing for an offensive to break the blockade, local residents said. Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil wealth. Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by U.S. commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran’s men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under U.S. Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country’s key ports under government control. There was no immediate confirmation from […]

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Libya's guns free-for-all fuels region's turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

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Libya’s guns free-for-all fuels region’s turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

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U.N. resolution authorizes force against illicit Libyan oil

A resolution authorizing the boarding of vessels suspected of carrying illicit Libyan oil gives Tripoli the stability it needs to grow, the U.S. envoy said. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to support a Chapter VII resolution that authorizes U.N. member states to board vessels and return any oil illegally seized from Libyan ports to the Libyan government. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement that, with Libya’s oil funds accounting for the bulk of the government’s budget, the resolution ensures Libya’s oil wealth stays in the hands of the Libyan people. "Good stewardship of Libya’s oil resources is critical to supporting Libya’s successful democratic transition," she said Wednesday. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs raided the oil tanker Morning Glory, a North Korean-flagged ship, in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea last weekend after it took on a cargo of oil from a […]

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South Sudan Troops Recapture Malakal From Rebels

South Sudanese troops recaptured Malakal, the capital of the state that is home to the country’s only functioning oil fields, ending more than a month of rebel occupation amid faltering regional efforts to broker a truce in the nearly four-month-old conflict. Government troops seized control of Malakal, located 400 miles north of the capital Juba, after a two-day gunbattle with rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told The Wall Street Journal. Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, has changed hands several times since the conflict between rebel fighters and government troops erupted in mid-December, raising concerns over the safety of the vast oil fields in the beleaguered nation. "Our forces have finally taken full control of Malakal, the rebels are in disarray," Col. Aguer said, adding that rebels had virtually "destroyed and looted everything" during their monthlong occupation. Review events […]

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Two Officers Killed by Militants, Egypt Says

Islamist militants killed an Egyptian brigadier general and a colonel in an early-morning gun battle in the Nile Delta province of Qalyubeya, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday. The killings followed the shooting deaths of six military conscripts over the weekend on the streets of Cairo, in an escalation of attacks on security forces after a lull in the violence over the past month. Islamist extremists have killed hundreds of military service members and police officers in retaliation for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer. Militants stunned Egypt in late January with a succession of high-profile attacks: a deadly car bombing at the gates of the Egyptian security headquarters in Cairo, the assassination of a senior Interior Ministry official on the streets of the capital, and the shooting down of a military helicopter in northern Sinai. In February, terrorists blew up a […]

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Nigeria: NNPC – Nigeria Lost 109.5 Million Barrels of Oil in 2013

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said Tuesday that Nigeria lost 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day or 109.50 million barrels in 2013 from severe attacks on critical export pipelines. The NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, gave the figures at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Yakubu said incessant vandalism of crude oil export pipelines and domestic crude oil and petroleum product pipelines impacted negatively on the economy. According to him, what Nigeria lost in 2013 was equivalent to the total output of Equatorial Guinea and larger than the entire production of Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun and Gabon. Yakubu said the shut-ins of such significant production had prompted the federal government to take some drastic actions to tackle the […]

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UN: Thousands killed and abused in S Sudan

Politically-fueled ethnic violence in South Sudan since mid-December has led to the brutal killing and abuse of thousands of civilians and sparked a government campaign to vilify the United Nations and harass UN personnel, the UN peacekeeping chief has said. Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that despite a January 23 ceasefire agreement, forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel soldiers loyal to dismissed former vice president Riek Machar "continue to prioritise the pursuit of military gains over talks towards a comprehensive political settlement." Fighting that broke out December 15 among presidential guards in the capital Juba quickly spread across the country and took on ethnic dimensions between the more populous Dinka tribe who support Kiir and the Nuer tribe loyal to Machar. He said prelimiary inquiry reports indicate that atrocities and very severe human rights violations were committed by both sides in the conflict, and he warned that the longer the fighting goes on "the […]

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Nigerian Oil Officials Say Crude Theft Risks Crimping Production

Nigerian oil officials said unchecked theft from pipelines may crimp the African nation’s ability to meet its target of adding 30 percent to crude output by the end of the decade. Stealing and sabotage cost the country 300,000 barrels of oil a day last year, Andrew Yakubu, group managing director of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said today at a conference in Abuja, the capital. Nigeria must do more to maintain its position as Africa ’s biggest producer, he said, adding that the country has a target to raise production to 3 million barrels a day by 2020, from about 2.3 million now. The nation’s oil output fluctuated by as much as 420,000 barrels a day between 2011 and 2013 amid pipeline attacks that halted flows from some fields. Nigeria has responded to theft by starting air surveillance of pipelines and allocating 15 billion naira ($91 million) for security […]

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Car bombs kill at least eight at Libya army academy in Benghazi

Several car bombs exploded at a Libyan army academy in the eastern city of Benghazi on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding more than a dozen, hospital sources and a security official said. Instability in the eastern city is just part of the struggle a weak central government faces in controlling armed groups, militias and brigades of former rebels who once battled Muammar Gaddafi and now refuse to disarm. A first bomb exploded at the academy’s front gate as people were leaving a graduation ceremony, security officials said. One or two other bombs exploded almost at the same time, wounding at least 13 persons. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Benghazi, where Libyan armed forces have been battling militants from hardline Islamist groups such as Ansar al Sharia, listed as a foreign terrorist organization by Washington. Most countries have closed their […]

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Shell Nigeria Oil Terminal Remains Closed After Leak Found

Exports from a major oil terminal in Nigeria operated by a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) remain shut-in nearly two weeks after the discovery of a leak in the export pipeline, a spokesman for the company said Monday. Company employees at the Shell Petroleum Development Co have observed a small sheen around the export line to the Forcados oil terminal in the Western Niger Delta during helicopter flyovers. But a spokesman for Shell said less than 15 barrels of oil had spilled since the leak was first spotted March 4. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but leaks from the country’s large network of pipelines–often blamed on oil theft–frequently disrupt its oil exports. Last month, SPDC said it shut its 150,000 barrel-a-day Nembe Creek trunkline because of an oil-theft related leak. Write to Sarah Kent at [email protected]

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Nigeria: Pipeline Vandals Engage Police in Shootout

Pandemonium broke out, weekend, along Ikate-Akute area of Ogun State following a shootout between operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti Pipeline Vandalism Unit and pipeline vandals. A suspected pipeline vandal was arrested, while others reportedly escaped, abandoning five of their operational speed boats with 4,000 empty 50-litre jerry cans. The vandals, said to be numbering over 12, reportedly stormed the spot apparently to vandalise a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, petroleum pipeline on Saturday morning, when the operatives swooped on them. During interrogation, the arrested suspect, who identified himself as Abbey Daniel, said he indulged in vandalism to save Nigerians from fuel scarcity. He said: "I am terribly sorry. But we did it in an attempt to help Nigerians to get fuel, which has become scarce. "Since the scarcity, Nigerians have been suffering, particularly artisans. And since there is high demand for fuel […]

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U.S. Navy SEALs Take Control of Oil Tanker Hijacked in Libya

United States Navy commandos seized a fugitive oil tanker in the Mediterranean waters southeast of Cyprus on Monday morning, thwarting an attempt by a breakaway Libyan militia to sell its contents on the black market, the Pentagon said. No one was hurt in the operation, the Pentagon said in a statement. The fugitive tanker, called the Morning Glory, had sailed into the Libyan port of Sidra under a North Korean flag but North Korea disavowed the ship and denied providing any authorization. News reports have said it was operated by a company based in Alexandria, Egypt, and that after leaving Libyan waters it appeared to have sailed the Mediterranean in search of a buyer for its oil. In a statement early Monday morning, the Pentagon said that the Libyan and Cypriot governments had requested American help in seizing control of the tanker. President Obama authorized the operation […]

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U.S. Navy SEALs board tanker carrying oil from Libya rebel port

U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker late on Sunday that escaped earlier this month from a Libyan port with armed men at the helm, the U.S. Department of Defense said. Libyan anti-government rebels, who are calling for a greater share of oil wealth and autonomy, had managed to load crude oil onto the 37,000 tonne-tanker, which escaped the Libyan navy, embarrassing the weak central government and prompting parliament to vote the prime minister out of office. No one was hurt in the boarding operation, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. "The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained" from the Libyan port of Es […]

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Partition of Libya looms as fight for oil sparks vicious new divide

No one paid much attention to the 21,000-tonne oil tanker Morning Glory as it churned back and forth along the north African coast earlier this month. Tankers are a common sight, carrying Libya ‘s oil exports around the world. But on 1 March it switched off its satellite transponder and vanished from world shipping maps. Eight days later it appeared at Libya’s biggest oil port, Es Sider, blockaded since the summer by a rebel militia. Within a week its arrival would see a prime minister sacked and Libya on the brink of civil war. Four hundred miles away in the capital Tripoli, prime minister Ali Zeidan, 63, a lawyer and former dissident based in Geneva, was alarmed. He had come to the job 15 months before with high expectations. Libya, freed with Nato help from the Muammar Gaddafi dictatorship, had everything going for it, with Africa ‘s largest oil […]

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Nigeria Navy destroys 260 illegal oil refineries

The Nigerian Navy says it destroyed 260 illegal oil refineries and burned 100,000 tons of contraband fuel to try to halt oil thefts bedeviling the economy of Africa’s biggest petroleum producer. Commanding officer Capt. Musa Gemu said sailors of the NNS Delta destroyed the refineries in the Warri South-West area of southern Delta region Friday night and arrested five suspects. He spoke Saturday night. Similar missions in the past have failed to slow estimated daily thefts of 200,000 barrels worth more than $20 million. Critics and analysts say most is stolen by politically-connected criminal cartels for sale on the international market. The small-time criminals targeted in such attacks can reconstruct crudely built sites in days. Shell Nigeria, the biggest operator, says it lost $1 billion to oil thefts in 2013.

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Gunmen kill 5 Egyptian soldiers north of Cairo

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s state news agency says gunmen have attacked a checkpoint manned by the military police in a suburb north of Cairo, killing five soldiers. Major General Mahmoud Yousri, chief of security of Qalubiya province, told MENA that the attackers stormed the checkpoint early Saturday in Shubra al-Kheima. Yousri said explosive disposal experts managed to defuse two bombs left behind by the attackers. Egypt has seen a spike in attacks on police and the military since the toppling of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year. Many of the deadliest attacks have been claimed by Sinai-based militants.

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Oil-Fouled Waters Spoil Niger Delta as Homes Abandoned

… A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Close Close Open Photographer: Dulue Mbachu/Bloomberg A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Goi is gone, given over to nature. Residents of the former fishing and farming […]

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Libya's interim PM calls for dialogue to end 10-month port blockade

Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

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Libya’s interim PM calls for dialogue to end 10-month port blockade

Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

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Libya Peace Deal Seen Complicated by Oil Cargo From Rebel Port

The prospect of a deal between Libya ’s eastern rebels and the central government is diminishing after the breakaway region shipped its first cargo of crude oil. A North Korean-flagged tanker left Es Sider, the largest oil-export terminal, yesterday after the navy refused to attack the vessel and then failed to impound it. Libya’s parliament then ousted Prime Minister Ali Zaidan in a no confidence vote. Federalists in the Barqa region control four oil ports and are demanding a share of the revenue from exports. “This will complicate a settlement because it emboldens the Barqa people,” said Theodore Karasik , the director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “It shows their ability to operate independently from the central government.” Libya’s central government has been hobbled by a lack of oil revenue since the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Crude production slumped […]

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Gunmen attack army bus in Cairo, kill 1 soldier

Egyptian security officials say gunmen have opened fire on an army bus in Cairo, killing one officer and wounding three soldiers. The officials say the bus, which belongs to the army’s Military Police, was driving through the capital’s Amiriyah district when it was targeted on Thursday morning. The officials did not say who was responsible for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants. In the eight months since the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, militants have targeted the military and police forces in Cairo and elsewhere in the country, often using motorbikes. Militants also are waging a full-fledged insurgency in the strategic Sinai Peninsula. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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Libyan PM flees country after ouster

Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan  fled to Europe in defiance of a travel ban on Wednesday after parliament voted him out of office for failing to stop rebels from independently exporting oil from the country in a challenge to  Libya’s fragile unity . The crisis arose when rebels, who have seized three eastern ports since August, loaded crude oil onto a North Korean-flagged tanker  at Al-Sidra terminal over the weekend. The tanker left Al-Sidra on Tuesday. According to varying accounts by government officials, the navy or air force then fired on the vessel, although it was not clear if this happened in Libyan or international waters. Government spokesman Habib al-Amin told a news conference in Tripoli on Wednesday that the firing failed to disable the tanker, which proceeded eastwards into Egyptian waters. He said Libya had asked Egypt and other countries to help stop the ship. There was […]

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North Korea Says Egyptian Firm Controls Libya Oil Tanker

North Korea denied on Thursday it was illegally exporting oil from rebel-controlled eastern Libya, claiming that an Egyptian company was operating a North Korean flagged oil tanker in the center of an armed standoff since Saturday. North Korea said it had revoked the registry of the tanker, named "Morning Glory," and demanded that Alexandria-based Golden East Logistics Company leave al-Sidra port without loading oil. The tanker, carrying at least 234,000 barrels of crude oil, sailed from a rebel-controlled port into international waters on Tuesday. A contract signed by North Korea with the Egyptian company prohibits the tanker from transporting contraband cargo and entering war or disaster zones, North Korea said through a report in its state media. "The ship has nothing to do with the DPRK at present and it (North Korea) has no responsibility whatsoever as regards the ship," the report said, using the abbreviation of country’s official […]

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Nigeria: Missing U.S.$20 Billion – Government Approves Forensic Audit of Corrupt NNPC

The Federal Government may soon commence the forensic audit of the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the engagement of reputable international firms to handle the exercise. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, who stated this in Abuja on Wednesday, said this was to reassure Nigerians that government was actually determined to unravel the truth and get to the root of the controversy. Mr. Abati said that contrary to claims by the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Lamido Sanusi that government was attempting to sweep the allegation of missing oil monies under the carpet, President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to ensuring that the relevant committees of the National Assembly investigated the issues to ensure that the culprits were brought to book. Mr. Abati was reacting to alleged claims by Mr. Sanusi […]

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Libya’s Prime Minister Ousted in Chaos Over Tanker

Libya’s transitional Parliament voted on Tuesday to remove its prime minister as his government conceded that despite days of bluster it was powerless to stop a tanker from sailing away with an illicit shipment of Libyan oil. The ouster of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan underscored the explosive danger of loss of control over Libya’s petroleum, the lifeblood of its economy. With negligible military or police forces, oil revenue has been the last bargaining chip for the weak transitional government in its struggle to subdue the fractious local militia and tribes that took up arms during the rebellion that overthrew Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi . The tanker escaped with the oil in defiance of military threats from Tripoli and legal warnings from Washington, and its voyage has evoked the lawlessness that prevailed on the same coast two centuries ago, when Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sent the Marines […]

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Political Killings Still Plaguing Post-Qaddafi Libya

People opposing an extension of the national government’s powers blocked a main street in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi last month.” data-mediaviewer-credit=”Abdullah Doma/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images” data-mediaviewer-src=”http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/03/12/world/TRIPOLI/TRIPOLI-superJumbo.jpg” itemid=”http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/03/12/world/TRIPOLI/TRIPOLI-master675.jpg” itemprop=”url” src=”http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/03/12/world/TRIPOLI/TRIPOLI-master675.jpg”> TRIPOLI, Libya — For Judge Jamal Bennour, one of the leaders of the Libyan uprising, the day the revolution turned sour was when his friend and fellow lawyer, Abdul-Salam al-Musmari, was shot dead in front of him. It was last July, nearly two years after the two had helped topple Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and a year since they had left government, ceding power to the General National Congress. The two friends had lingered after Friday Prayer in their mosque in Benghazi, and were walking home when a man leaned out of a passing four-wheel-drive car and shot Mr. Musmari in the chest. “It was just a moment,” his friend said. “We lost Abdul-Salam. It […]

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Libya's ousted PM leaves country despite ban

Libya’s ousted prime minister has left the country despite a ban on travel, hours after parliament removed him from office in a no-confidence vote. Officials in Tripoli on Wednesday could not confirm the departure of Ali Zidan, Libya’s first democratically chosen leader who had struggled for 15 months to stem the country’s spiraling descent into chaos. But in nearby Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned television that Zidan had made a brief stop-over on the Mediterranean island late on Tuesday, before traveling on. The Western-backed Zidan was ousted in a parliament vote on Tuesday as Libya faces a series of crises, including an escalation over oil ports seized by an eastern militia. Soon after parliament voted, Libya’s general prosecutor banned Zidan from travel pending an investigation into corruption allegations.

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Libya’s ousted PM leaves country despite ban

Libya’s ousted prime minister has left the country despite a ban on travel, hours after parliament removed him from office in a no-confidence vote. Officials in Tripoli on Wednesday could not confirm the departure of Ali Zidan, Libya’s first democratically chosen leader who had struggled for 15 months to stem the country’s spiraling descent into chaos. But in nearby Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned television that Zidan had made a brief stop-over on the Mediterranean island late on Tuesday, before traveling on. The Western-backed Zidan was ousted in a parliament vote on Tuesday as Libya faces a series of crises, including an escalation over oil ports seized by an eastern militia. Soon after parliament voted, Libya’s general prosecutor banned Zidan from travel pending an investigation into corruption allegations.

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Libyan parliament sacks PM after tanker escapes rebel-held port

Libya’s parliament voted Prime Minister Ali Zeidan out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces, officials said, in a sign of the worsening chaos in the OPEC member state. Libyan gunboats later chased the tanker along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast and opened fire, damaging it, a military spokesman said. Italian naval ships were helping move the tanker to a Libyan government-controlled port, he said. But Italy denied any of its vessels were in the area at the time and the reported firing incident could not be confirmed. Western powers fear the vast North African state could even break apart with the government struggling to rein in armed militias and tribesmen who helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but want to grab power and oil revenues. Zeidan, a liberal weakened for months by […]

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Gunbattles Erupt as Libyan Forces Try to Seize Oil Tanker from Militias

Gunbattles erupted late Monday when Libyan government forces attempted to seize back an oil tanker that rebellious militiamen were trying to use to independently sell crude, a Libyan official said. Culture Minister Habib al-Amin said government forces had taken control of the tanker after the clashes. However, the militia controlling the As Sidra oil port denied it had lost control of the vessel. The clashes were the most serious confrontation yet between militias that have paralyzed the country’s oil industry by blocking major ports and a government too weak to confront them. The minister said at a late-night news conference that the Libyan forces took over the North Korean-flagged Morning Glory at around 9 p.m. local time after two skirmishes—one in the morning and one in the evening—with militiamen on speedboats around the tanker. He said there was a third exchange of gunfire after government forces seized the ship, […]

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Libya says halts tanker outside rebel port, plans military offensive

Libya on Monday stopped a North Korean-flagged tanker that had loaded oil from a rebel-held port, after naval forces briefly exchanged fire with the rebels, officials said. They also said the government will assemble forces to "liberate" all occupied ports, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenue. The conflict over oil wealth is increasing fears that the OPEC producer may slide deeper into chaos or even splinter as the fragile government fails to rein in dozens of militias that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the North African country, said they had dispatched forces to central Libya to deal with any government attack. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told Reuters naval forces had seized the North Korean-flagged tanker outside the eastern Es Sider […]

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East Africa: Oil and Gas Boom in East Africa Promises Riches, but Experts Fear Only Elites Will Benefit

The oil and gas bonanza in East Africa is changing the power dynamics of one of the poorest regions in the world, promising to free governments from long dependence on foreign aid once the billions of dollars in natural resource revenues start to flow. Civil activists from the region, diplomats and corporate officials alike at briefings in Washington over the last few weeks have warned that Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique are running out of time to agree on national policies to develop their newfound wealth in ways that will benefit the lives of their citizens. The pressure to turn on the oil and gas taps and earn quick cash is so immense that activists and officials said they fear politics will trump good governance, and the money could end up lining the pockets of entrenched political and business interests rather than benefitting citizens where millions live on less […]

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Nigeria: Abuja Residents Groan As Petrol Scarcity Bites Harder

The persistent fuel scarcity in the country is taking its toll on the residents of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as transport fare has increased by between 50 and 100 per cent. A correspondent the News Agency of Nigeria who went round some parts of the territory in Abuja on Monday, reports that worst hit are civil servants and traders who waited endlessly at their various bus stops without much hope of getting vehicles. Motorists, who managed to get the product after several hours of queuing at fuel stations, transferred the burden on passengers by charging almost double the normal fare. Yusuf Yahaya, a civil servant, who lives in Lugbe on the Airport Road, said he suffered a lot of hardship at the bus stop while coming to work on Monday morning. Mr. Yahaya said that he spent several hours before getting a vehicle and the driver charged him N150 […]

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Libya Vows to Block Tanker Attempt to Lift Oil in Rebel Port

Libya ’s government vowed to prevent a tanker from leaving a rebel-held oil port as it struggles to reassert control over the nation’s main source of revenue. The vessel arrived on March 8 in Es Sider, the nation’s largest oil-export terminal, after Libyan armed forces refused government orders to fire on the ship, Prime Minister Ali Zaidan said in Tripoli, the capital. Air force officers told Zaidan they didn’t want to risk harming civilians or causing an oil spill , the Libya Herald newspaper reported. Navy vessels have moved to stop the tanker from leaving, Culture Minister Habib Lamin told a news conference yesterday. “The government should now actively seek a solution” with rebels in the self-proclaimed eastern region of Barqa, Asma Sraibah, a member of parliament, said yesterday in a telephone interview in the capital city. “It would be a disaster if the government loses its main source […]

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Nigerians Ask Why Oil Funds Are Missing

Even in a country where untold oil wealth disappears into the pockets of the elite, the oil corruption scheme he was investigating seemed outsize — and he threatened to lay it bare at a meeting with Nigeria ’s top bankers. The rabble-rouser was none other than the governor of the country’s central bank. Weeks later, however, he was out, fired by Nigeria’s president in an episode that has shaken the Nigerian economy, filled newspapers and airwaves here, and even inspired a rare street demonstration. The bankers were going to have to open their books, the governor, Lamido Sanusi, warned them at the recent meeting. He wanted to see where the money was going — $20 billion from oil sales that, mysteriously, was not making its way to the treasury, in a country that could soon be declared Africa’s biggest economy and already attracts the most direct […]

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Nigeria: Fuel Price Hits the Skies, As Scarcity Bites Harder

Fuel scarcity has hit virtually all parts of the country, with scanty evidence that it will abate soon. Aside the irritating scarcity, the hike in the pump price of fuel in some parts of the North has added agony to both dealers and consumers of the commodity, often referred to as ‘black gold,’ reports Weekly Trust. It has been weeks of scarcity of fuel across Nigeria, as motorists spend long hours in queues at filling stations to buy what many now call ‘black gold.’ But what has remained a constant headache to consumers of the commodity is the price hike that has come with the scarcity, at the few filling stationswhich open occasionally. In Kaduna, the fuel shortage has led to long queues in petrol stations, with a concomitant increase in pump price. Investigations revealed that the price of fuel ranges between N100 and N130 per litre, depending on […]

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Libya port rebels say have started exporting oil

Armed protesters who have seized oil ports in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had started exporting oil, bypassing the Tripoli government, with their first shipment going to a North Korean-flagged tanker. Officials at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed earlier on Saturday that the tanker was docked at the Es-Sider port, which is under the control of a rebel group demanding autonomy and a greater share of Libya’s oil wealth. "We started exporting oil. This is our first shipment," said a spokesman for the protesters, who have seized Es-Sider and two other ports. The tanker Morning Glory, which had been circling off the Libyan coast for days, was preparing to load crude at the port, said an oil official, asking not to be identified. Oil workers at the port confirmed the docking. "We have informed the government and the defense ministry so they can take […]

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BP shelves onshore work in Libya

British energy company BP said in an annual report it was exploring other options for exploration drilling onshore in Libya because of security concerns. BP in 2007 secured exploration and production-sharing agreements with the Libyan government for the onshore Ghadames basin and the offshore Sirte basin. In an annual report filed Thursday, the company said planning for offshore exploration drilling was continuing. "With respect to the onshore exploration drilling program, a security review in June concluded that this could not be safely and securely delivered by BP at this time," it said. "Alternative approaches are being considered." London’s commercial ties to Tripoli were questioned following the 2009 release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. BP was accused of playing a role in the decision to release him, though the allegations […]

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Jordan, Iraq, Egypt join hands on natural gas, oil

The Jordanian government said it signed natural gas deals with Egypt and discussed the prospects for future oil cooperation with Iraq. Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail Mohamed joined Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi in Amman for a trilateral energy meeting. During the meeting, Jordan and Egypt signed deals to secure natural gas deliveries through the Arab Gas Pipeline, a 750-mile pipeline from Egypt. A separate deal called for connecting future liquefied natural gas supplies through the pipeline for Jordanian energy companies, the official Jordan News Agency reported Thursday. The Egyptian section of the pipeline has been the frequent target of terrorist attacks, causing problems for Jordan. Last month, Jordanian companies Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine secured a total gross quantity of 66 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the Tamar field, located off the Israeli coast. With Iraq, the Jordanian government said both sides expected an oil […]

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Egypt: IPR finds oil, gas in Southwest Gebel El-Zeit prospect

Irving, Tex., independent IPR Inc. has made a discovery in its first drilled well, SWGEZ-5, in its Southwest Gebel El-Zeit concession in the Gulf of Suez offshore Egypt. IPR operates the block, which was acquired from Devon Energy International in 2007. IPR constructed a modern 3-slot platform, 9.5-km, 8.5-in. pipeline from platform to shore, and state-of-the art surface facilities to receive future deliveries. SWGEZ-5 was drilled using Advanced Energy Systems’ ADM-IV jack up rig under the supervision of IPR’s operational teams and its joint venture operating company, PetroHurghada. The well took 43 days to drill, test, and complete to a total depth of 8,020 ft in the basement of the Precambrian age. The well encountered a total of 107 ft of net hydrocarbon pay in Late Cretaceous age Nubia and Matulla formations, as targeted prolific producers in the Gulf of Suez. SWGEZ-5 tested naturally flowing oil and gas at […]

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Egypt Tries Harder To Stop Energy Firm Exodus

Egypt is enhancing exploration terms and striving to repay nearly $5 billion it owes to foreign oil and gas producers as it struggles to prevent them fleeing to more promising prospects elsewhere in Africa. Cairo needs them to expand exploration and bring new finds to production if it is to keep the lights on and avoid more civil unrest. But investors are hesitant – Egypt pays them barely enough to cover investment costs. The costing issue has been compounded since the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak by Egypt’s inability to pay foreign firms for existing output and its decision to divert for domestic use the share of gas they normally get to export. The crisis has left BG Group, a major investor which relies on Egypt for almost a fifth of its output, unable to meet export commitments. The British firm has said it […]

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Artillery, machine gun fire rattle S Sudan capital

Heavy artillery and machine gun fire is echoing throughout the capital of South Sudan after violence broke out. Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said Wednesday that the fighting broke out over an administrative pay issue but that the problem had been contained. Fighting, however, could still be heard around the military barracks where violence first broke out in mid-December and escalated into country-wide conflict that continues today. Soldiers are being quickly ferried around the city on the backs of trucks. Shops on a main street in the city have closed amid a general increase in security personnel. In Ethiopia, a leader for opposition forces said that mutineers in the army on Wednesday had pledged their allegiance to the country’s former vice president, who commands rebel forces. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

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Dana Gas to overhaul production facilities in Egypt

Emirati energy company Dana Gas said it was overhauling its el-Wastani natural gas plant in Egypt to increase its production by 25 percent. The company said it was shutting down the facility for two weeks to upgrade capacity by 40 million cubic feet per day to 200 million cubic feet. Mark Fenton, general manager for Dana’s subsidiary in Egypt, said the maintenance was planned as soon as his company received permission to bring new fields in the country into commercial production. "It is a necessary work and the tie-in of the new wells along with the maintenance program ensures that the plant is also fully upgraded prior to new wells coming on stream during the year," he said in a statement published Sunday. Dana announced last week it signed agreements with the Egyptian government to explore for natural resources in eastern […]

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Sudan: Iraq Expresses Readiness to Supply Sudan With Oil

The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani on Monday expressed his country’s willingness to supply Sudan with crude oil and assist in the construction of a new oil refinery. Shahristani said in a statement released by his office as carried by Iraqi media that Baghdad is keen on supporting the Sudanese people and will stand by their side politically and economically. The Iraqi official made the statement after his meeting with the head of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Gen Mohamed Atta Al-Mawla Abbas who heads a government delegation that includes the minister of oil Makkawi Mohamed Awad, director of the oil marketing company and a number of experts. Abbas visited Iraq as an envoy from Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir. "The two sides discussed ways of strengthening relations between the two countries and the mechanism of exporting Iraqi oil to Sudan. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple