Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 315
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Western majors chasing lucrative Libyan petroleum development deals face a host of challenges in their quest to help raise output from big workhorse oilfields boasting Africa's largest reserves.
The concerns - among them legal uncertainty and industrial constraints - are compounded by the possibility Libya may simply have other priorities in the short term, analysts say. Libya's oil sector is opening up - it has held three oil exploration licensing rounds since the end of Western sanctions, awarding permits to US, European and Asian firms keen to grab a stake in one of the world's last under-explored oil regions. Now multinationals are eyeing juicier development deals with the north African Opec member which they hope to negotiate bilaterally without competing in a bidding round. "All the oil companies will be biting the Libyans' hands off to get access to reserves," said Keith Myers, energy expert at Britain's Royal Institute for International Affairs. Majors argue only they can offer the integrated packages of skills, technology and capital to shore up sagging production at large fields at a competitive cost to the host country. "Libya has the attention of all the major oil companies in the world. That is an enviable position," Craig McMahon, senior analyst at global research company Wood Mackenzie. "Most oil companies are discussing with the government how to get involved in existing oil production and in producing and exploring for gas," said exploration geologist Daniel Clark-Lowes of Nubian Consulting. —Reuters |
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