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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O&G Companies Monitoring Libya As Rebels Roll into Tripoli

- O&G Companies Monitoring Libya As Rebels Roll into Tripoli

Monday, August 22, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Karen Boman

Oil and gas companies with operations in Libya are monitoring the country's political situation as rebels have taken control of most of Tripoli. A number of companies shut down operations and pulled workers from Libya earlier this year following the uprising against Moammar Qadhafi and resulting civil war.

German oil and gas operator Wintershall said in a statement, "We are monitoring the situation very closely. Our care is continually directed towards our Libyan staff, especially in Tripolis. We hope that the violent conflicts will end soon."

"For safety reasons Wintershall shut down and safely sealed off oil production operations in the desert at the end of February. No oil has been produced there since. Our international employees have been flown out of the country. The local staff who have remained in Libya are looking after the production facilities in the desert."

"At the moment it is too early to predict when, how and under what conditions the production in Libya might begin again. Starting up production could be done within several weeks under standard technical conditions. This of course depends on the state of the export infrastructure as well as a stable security situation in the country."

A spokesperson with Austria-based OMV said the company is monitoring the situation closely, but cannot confirm when its production of 33,000 BOE/d will resume.

When conditions allow, BP intends to resume plans to drill its first exploration well in Libya. The company originally planned to begin drilling in February of this year, but was forced to suspend operations due to the political situation in Libya.

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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.