Eni, Libyan Rebels Sign Deal to Restore Pre-Civil War Role

- Eni, Libyan Rebels Sign Deal to Restore Pre-Civil War Role

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by Adnkronos International, Rome

Paolo Scaroni, chief executive officer of Eni met with Libyan rebel leaders in Benghazi Monday where they signed a non-binding agreement to restore the Italian oil company's pre-civil war role as the North African country's biggest oil and natural producer.

"With the memorandum, Eni and the National Transition Council (NTC) are working to recreate the conditions for a swift return of Eni's activities in the country," the Rome-based company said in a statement.

The agreement would allow Eni to resume gas imports to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline, a move that Scaroni last week said was important ahead of winter when demand for the fuel increases.

Scaroni's trip to Libya makes him the first head of a major oil company to visit Libya since rebels last week took over the capital Tripoli, putting an end to Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year-old authoritarian government.

News reports said Scaroni met with the head of Libya's National Oil company, in addition to the NTC, the rebel's political leadership.

Eni is expected to supply Libyan rebels with fuel as part of an international effort to create security and infrastructure in post-Gaddafi Libya.

Oil traders said Eni was trying to hire a tanker to travel to Libya this week, Reuters news agency reported.

Eni needs between 6 and 18 months to restart its oil and gas fields in Libya, Scaroni said Thursday in Milan following a meeting with NTC prime minister Mahmoud Jibril.

Eni has been in the country since 1959 and got 13 percent of its revenue from Libyan natural resources prior to the conflict that broke out in February.

(c)2011 Adnkronos International (Rome). Distributed by MCT Information Services.

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Commodity Corner: Brent Falls on Libyan Woes

- Commodity Corner: Brent Falls on Libyan Woes

Monday, August 22, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Saaniya Bangee

With Libya's six-month conflict nearing an end, crude futures rose 2.3 percent Monday. On Monday, Libyan rebels announced they had taken control of a majority of the country's capital, advancing in efforts to oust leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery gained $1.86 to settle at $84.12 a barrel. Priced traded as low as $81.13 a barrel, after an earlier intraday peak of $84.67. The front-month contract expired at the end of the floor trading session.

Brent, which serves as a barometer for international oil, fell 36 cents on expectations that Libyan oil exports could resume fairly soon. Prior to the civil war, Libya exported 1.3 million barrels a day of high-quality oil. Supply disruptions in Libya and the North Sea have pushed Brent futures past the $100-mark this year. Earlier in the session, Brent futures bottomed out at $105.15 a barrel before settling at $108.26 a barrel.

September natural gas traded 5.1 cents lower at $3.89 per thousand cubic feet Monday on bearish weather forecasts. Forecasts predict a significant drop in temperatures for the upcoming weeks. Higher temperatures boost the demand for natural gas.

In addition, forecasts predict that Hurricane Irene, the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, is unlikely to disrupt vital production areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The intraday range for natural gas was $3.853 to $3.928 Monday.

Reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, lost less than a penny Monday to settle at $2.835 a gallon.

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Libyan Rebel Leader Urges Repsol to Return

- Libyan Rebel Leader Urges Repsol to Return

Friday, July 22, 2011
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

Libyan rebel leader Mahmud Jibril called on Thursday on all Spanish firms, including oil company Repsol, to return to Libya, which has been engulfed by a five-month-long civil war.

The Libya's National Transitional Council website operated by the rebels quoted Jibril as saying "the strong bilateral relations with Spain are very important for us, Spanish companies like Repsol are very important for our oil fields plus Spanish companies are helping us in rebuilding the infrastructure of the country."

The company is the mouthpiece of the rebel forces battling Moammar Gaddafi's regime.

Repsol, which has had a presence in Libya since the 1970s, has cut its oil production in half and evacuated all its nationals and experts from the country after the uprising against Gaddafi started.

Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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Former Libyan Oil Minister Defects to Italy

- Former Libyan Oil Minister Defects to Italy

Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

Former Libyan oil minister Shokri Ghanem defected to Italy on Wednesday, telling journalists in Rome that he could no longer work in the current situation in his county.

Ghanem, who used to represent Libya at OPEC, said he was joining the rebels fighting Moamer Gaddafi.

He said he wanted to work for democracy in his country.

On Tuesday, eight Libyan military officers, including five generals, appeared in Rome to say they were part of a group of up to 120 military officials defecting from Gaddafi's regime.

Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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Gazprom, ENI to Conclude Elephant Stake Buy after Libyan Unrest

Gazprom, ENI to Conclude Elephant Stake Buy after Libyan Unrest

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dow Jones Newswires

by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

Gazprom plans to acquire a 33% stake in ENI's Elephant field in Libya has been delayed, and will be finalized when the situation stabilizes in the North African country, Gazprom said Wednesday in a press release.

The announcement came following a meeting in Moscow between Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller and ENI CEO Paolo Scaroni.

The two also discussed France's Electricite de France and Germany's Wintershall joining the South Stream project.

Oil moves through $113 a barrel

Oil moves through $113 a barrel

April 11, 2011

By Virginia Harrison , MarketWatch 

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures edged back up in electronic trading on Monday, but news of a possible peace agreement in Libya helped limit gains in Asian trading hours.

The benchmark contract for Nymex light sweet crude for May delivery /quotes/comstock/21n!f:cl\k11 (CLK11 112.42, -0.37, -0.33%) added 27 cents, or 0.2%, to $113.06 a barrel.

Gadhafi meets with African leaders
A delegation from the African Union meets with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi over the weekend in a diplomatic effort to stop the bloodshed in Libya. Video courtesy of Reuters. 

Crude prices have increased by more than 23% this year, according to data from FactSet.

Prolonged geopolitical uncertainty and violence in North Africa and the Middle East has been a driving factor behind the soaring oil price. 

But on Monday, there were reports that embattled Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi had agreed to a cease-fire put forward by the African Union. 

The reports cited South African President Jacob Zuma as saying Gadhafi had accepted a peace plan to end the conflict in Libya, which began after violent protests broke out in February. See report on Libyan peace plan. 

 

Elsewhere across the Middle East, however, political unrest raged over the weekend, killing dozens and leaving many wounded.

Commodity Corner: Crude Climbs on Equities, Mideast

Commodity Corner: Crude Climbs on Equities, Mideast

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by  Saaniya Bangee

Crude futures advanced 0.8 percent Tuesday on stronger equities and doubts on whether Libyan rebels can resume crude exports within a week.

Tuesday's stock market rally helped oil prices snap out of a 3-day slump, settling at $104.79 a barrel. The 81-cent gain came in anticipation of increased oil demand in the U.S. As the first quarter for 2011 nears close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index both gained 0.7 percent in afternoon trading.

Earlier Tuesday, prices fell to $102.70 a barrel on Libyan rebels' promise to swiftly return crude exports to markets. Traders remain weary as to how quickly and capable Libya will be in resuming exports, along with the remaining uncertainty in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, natural gas futures for April delivery fell by 3.1 percent to settle at $4.24 per thousand cubic feet. The April contract expired at Tuesday's settlement, which traders seized as an opportunity to cash out previous profits.

The Energy Information Administration reported 66.67 billion cubic feet a day, 0.5 percent lower, for U.S. natural gas production in the lower 48 states. The drop was still 6.8 percent higher from year-earlier levels.

Natural gas prices fluctuated between $4.195 and $4.37 Tuesday.
Front-month gasoline ended up Tuesday, settling at a session high of $3.05 a gallon. The session bottomed out at $3.01 a gallon.