Russian president Vladimir Putin (left) with leader of the Libyan revolution Muammar Qadhafi at Qadhafi's residence in Tripoli, April 16, 2008
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Gazprom Cozies Up to Libya
Gazprom activity in Libya is up. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller met with leader of the Libyan revolution Muammar Qadhafi yesterday. They discussed the possibility of Gazprom’s buying up all of the oil and natural gas produced by the Libyan state National Oil Co., “at competitive prices,” Miller promised, and setting up a joint enterprise to refine oil. Substantive negotiations are expected to be held before the end of the month. Gazprom may also receive fields by the end of the year that Naftogaz Ukrainy is now developing. Gazprom sources say the proposals were “assessed positively” in Libya.
Libya is in first place in Africa and fifth place in all of OPEC in the size of its proven oil reserves – 5.1 billion tons. Its gas reserves, 1.49 trillion cu. m., are the fourth largest in Africa. The country produces 80 million tons of oil (30 tons from National Oil Co.) and 11.7 cu .m of gas (10.5 billion cu. m. from National Oil Co.). A pipeline carries 8 billion cu. m. of gas to Italy annually, and 1 billion cu. m. is liquefied and sent to Spain. The remaining gas is consumed domestically.
Gazprom has been active in Libya since 2006, when it won a tender for the license for geological exploration and pumping oil on block 64, south of Tripoli with reserves of 20 million tons, and block 19 on the Mediterranean shelf. Gazprom has also received 49.9 percent in concessions of blocks 96 and 97 from the German Wintershall. Those blocks produce 6 million tons of oil per year.
In April, Vladimir Putin, then president of Russia, wrote off $4.5 billion in Libyan debts at a meeting with Qadhafi. In return, Libya is to buy Russian heavy industry equipment and Russian Railways received a contract to build a railroad for the country for $3.5 billion. Almost immediately after that, Saudi Arabia annulled the results of a similar tender that had been won by Russian Railways.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 10, 2008
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