Libya-Turkey $20 billion payments deal seems nearer

[ekrem]

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan flies to Turkey this week , to meet his counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid what appear to be intensifying efforts to sort out economic relations with the Turks, around 100 of whose contractors are owed some $20 billion in back payments and compensation.

Only last week Ankara’s economy minister Zafer Caglayan visited Tripoli with a large party of Turkish businessmen.

Libya Herald

If there's no money, they are concessions for Oil-fields.

 

[waltky]

China puttin' it's money where it's mouth is...

U.S. Has Big Dreams for Libya, but China Has the Big Contracts
August 9, 2013 - - In her end-of-Ramadan message to Libyans, U.S. Ambassador Deborah Jones envisioned a "vibrant and productive" Libya, one filled with tourists, five-star hotels, waterfront restaurants and "modern, eco-friendly architecture."

But who's going to build it? China's longstanding contracts to build railroad lines across Libya were interrupted by the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, but recent press reports say those stalled projects may be reactivated. And in May, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation signed an agreement in Benghazi to resume work on 20,000 housing units, the Libya Herald reported.

Libya's weak government and armed militias pose a challenge to any country doing business there, and that is particularly true for the U.S. following the terror attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012. The State Department currently is warning U.S. citizens about the risks of traveling to Libya "because of ongoing instability and violence." The United States "strongly advises" against all but essential travel to Tripoli, and it advises against "all" travel to Benghazi, Bani Walid, and southern Libya, including border areas and the regions of Sabha and Kufra.

As of June 6, the U.S. Embassy in Libya remains an "unaccompanied post" due to security concerns, meaning that family members cannot be there with embassy staff. And the embassy in Tripoli was one of 19 U.S. diplomatic posts closed this week because of an unspecified terrorist threat. Nevertheless, in her Aug. 7 Eid Al-Fitr message to Libyans, Ambassador Jones talked about her vision for the country: "Every time I drive along the Corniche by the port in Tripoli, en route to my meetings, I envision a future Libya, with Tripoli and Benghazi joined by the sea, by tourism, by economic endeavour and technological innovation," she wrote.

- See more at: U.S. Has Big Dreams for Libya, but China Has the Big Contracts | CNS News

 

[irosie91]

seems ok to me----but does Libya not have an ISLAMICIST thing going?

 

[waltky]

Den how come gas prices shot up overnight???...

Libya Oil Output Surges as Fields Reopen
September 18, 2013 — Libya's crude oil production has recovered to nearly 40 percent of its pre-war capacity with exports set to rise as major western fields ramped up output after protesters agreed to reopen them.

Output has risen to 620,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with its pre-war capacity of 1.6 million bpd, two state National Oil Corp (NOC) officials said on Wednesday. Libyan Prime minister Ali Zeidan said on Tuesday that the worst disruption to its main industry was costing around $130 million a day in revenues. Finance Minister Alkilani Abdelkarim al-Jazi warned that the country could start dipping into financial reserves from next month if prolonged protests crippling the oil sector were not resolved.

Output from the El Sharara field has reached about 300,000 bpd day and El Feel has hit 70,000 bpd, Mustafa Sanalla, executive board member at NOC said. The fields re-opened earlier this week after being closed since Aug. 27 when an armed group switched off pipeline valves connecting them to the ports.

After the lifting of force majeure at the Mellitah ports, NOC was able to issue a oil sell tender for 1.2 million barrels of very light oil, not the usual Mellitah blend, but a fresh source of revenue. The restart of El Sharara will also liberate Brega oil for exports from the eastern Marsa al Brega port, as it will no longer be needed as a stop-gap for the Zawiya refinery.

Another Libyan oil official added that El Sharara was expected to reach full capacity of around 330,000 bpd by Thursday while output from the El Feel field would reach 90,000 bpd over the next few days as workers were still trying to get the water injection units going. Output was also coming from Sirte Oil Co. in the east and the offshore Bouri and Al Jurf platforms while Arabian Gulf Oil Co. production has risen to around 60,000 bpd after the Hamada field resumed adding to existing Mesla output at 50,000 bpd, the official said.

Libya Oil Output Surges as Fields Reopen