Algeria's Energy Future was launched at a half-day round-table seminar at Chatham House, London, on Wednesday 6 April.
The report was presented at the seminar by its lead authors, Jon Marks and John Hamilton, and critically assessed by Algerian and international experts. Read more
The African Energy Atlas has established itself as an indispensable resource for energy industry professionals.
The 2011 edition features more than 45 maps and charts drawn with expert care by journalist cartographer David Burles. Read more
Briefings and Reports 2
AfricaHardball is an executive dialogue that brings together policy-makers, industry leaders and analysts to discuss the key political issues affecting African markets in frank and open terms.
The next AfricaHardball roundtable will be held on 1 December in London, focusing on North Africa Read more
Briefings and Reports 3
A detailed and frank analysis of Libya’s energy sector
Published in July 2010, Libya's Energy Future provides authoritative, independently sourced analysis of Libya’s energy sector policy and history, examines the country’s governance and financial record and assesses the potential for international partners to do business with its institutions and interest groups.
On the page below you will find a selection of articles from the African Energy archive. All items preceded by a padlock symbol require a subscription.
Libya energy maps - link to the Libya page in the African Energy map library
Latest news
Libya's Energy Future – read more about this revised and expanded African Energy special report, published July 2010
On the evening of Tuesday 16 March, the citizens of Benghazi were coming to terms with the fact that the strategic town of Ajdabiya had fallen to Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s forces, leaving their volunteer army and the undefended eastern capital itself at the mercy of a better equipped and trained army – known for its ruthlessness. CbI’s Jon Marks was among the majority of foreigners who pulled out of Benghazi that night, heading for Tobruk and then the Egyptian border.
The United Nations approval of military involvement in Libya, and its imposition of sanctions on National Oil Corporation (NOC) and other institutions, substantially changes the balance of Libya’s internal conflict. Colonel Muammar Qadhafi has publicly and brutally re-acquired the pariah status that he earned throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s.
The 18 March resolution will not have an immediate impact on the oil sector as no oil was being exported from Libya anyway, but it entirely changes the future dynamic.
As senior officials and military officers desert the regime in ever greater numbers, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s deliberately chaotic labyrinth of rival governmental and security institutions is collapsing. Understanding how he played off competing factions within the regime against each other to prevent any alternative power structure from emerging is fundamental to assessing how this crisis could end and what will follow, writes John Hamilton Download the full bulletin
Power
Libyan war threatens water supply
Libya is sliding into an attritional battle for resources in which power generation and water supply are vulnerable. Domestic gas is still flowing, but much of Libya’s power is being generated by fuel oil or diesel, including most of the supply in Tripoli.
General Electric Company of Libya chairman Belgasem Mohamed Younis and United Nations Development Programme resident representative Costanza Farina signed an agreement on 16 June to improve the electricity company’s management and systems. Issue 189, 25 June 2010.more
Generation policy rethink, nuclear options
The General People’s Committee (GPC – cabinet) has asked the Supreme Council for Energy Affairs (SCEA) to establish a new strategy for the increase and diversification of generation capacity. At a meeting in December, the GPC also directed the Atomic Energy Organisation (AEO) to study and negotiate offers from international companies for the use of nuclear energy in electricity production and desalination projects. Issue 178, 12 January 2010.more
Gecol asks Hyundai to build Tripoli West
General Electricity Company of Libya has invited South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build the 1,400MW Tripoli West power plant in its entirety, MEED reported quoting project sources. Issue 174, 13 November 2009.more
North Africa renewables update – steady development while Europe waits on mega-projects
African Energy’s new listing of solar, wind and other renewables projects in five North African economies reveals a steady pace of development for wind schemes, notably in Egypt and Morocco, and a gradual acceleration in the number of solar projects. Southern Mediterranean planners are examining a range of other technologies – to generate power from urban waste, for example – and, for the longer term, nuclear options. The spread of projects is shown graphically by map-maker David Burles, while Our Casablanca Correspondent reports on recent legislative developments in Morocco Issue 173, 30 October 2009.more
Qadhafi, Free Libya forces fight to a standstill over oil as well as territory
Both sides are seeking to keep their domestic markets supplied and structure oil deals as they seek to gain a definitive advantage in the Libyan conflict’s new, internationalised phase, write John Hamilton and Jon Marks Issue 206, 1 April 2011.more
NFZ may shift control of oil
The United Nations approval of military involvement in Libya, and its imposition of sanctions on National Oil Corporation (NOC) and other institutions, substantially changes the balance of Libya’s internal conflict. Colonel Muammar Qadhafi has publicly and brutally re-acquired the pariah status that he earned throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s.
The 18 March resolution will not have an immediate impact on the oil sector as no oil was being exported from Libya anyway, but it entirely changes the future dynamic.
Colonel Muammar Qadhafi met the ambassadors of Russia, China and India on 13 March, inviting oil companies from their countries to invest in Libya. This a clear threat that companies from countries backing the rebellion will be punished if he regains control.
Crisis - dealing with the Qadhafis leaves difficult legacy for range of players
The international companies that worked so hard to obtain major contracts from the Libyan regime, and their diplomatic backers and bankers, now find themselves confronted with an awkward situation. The unspoken rule of many transactions in recent years has been to find a member of the Qadhafi family – or more usually their representatives – to sponsor a deal through the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) bureaucracy and power elite.
As senior officials and military officers desert the regime in ever greater numbers, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s deliberately chaotic labyrinth of rival governmental and security institutions is collapsing. Understanding how he played off competing factions within the regime against each other to prevent any alternative power structure from emerging is fundamental to assessing how this crisis could end and what will follow, writes John Hamilton
Analysis from CbI, African Energy's parent company, 25 February 2011. Download the full bulletin
Libya crisis: Big oil under pressure as Qadhafi’s other children finally have their say
International oil companies and Libya’s other commercial partners have been caught out by the extent of popular protest that has placed the regime in mortal peril. Even if the Brother Leader survives, Libya will be a very different place in which to do business. If Muammar Qadhafi falls, the shape of a successor regime is very unclear, given the dominance of the Colonel and his idiosyncratic form of government over the past 41 years. John Hamilton and Jon Marks take stock as the crisis unfolds.
Hamburg-based RWE Dea has defied the trend of negative sentiment in relations between international companies and Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC). It has agreed to convert its existing EPSA-3 concessions into the standard EPSA-4 format and is awaiting government approval for planned developments in the Sirte Basin.
Libya is sliding into an attritional battle for resources in which power generation and water supply are vulnerable. Domestic gas is still flowing, but much of Libya’s power is being generated by fuel oil or diesel, including most of the supply in Tripoli.
Qadhafi, Free Libya forces fight to a standstill over oil as well as territory
Both sides are seeking to keep their domestic markets supplied and structure oil deals as they seek to gain a definitive advantage in the Libyan conflict’s new, internationalised phase, write John Hamilton and Jon Marks Issue 206, 1 April 2011.more
NFZ may shift control of oil
The United Nations approval of military involvement in Libya, and its imposition of sanctions on National Oil Corporation (NOC) and other institutions, substantially changes the balance of Libya’s internal conflict. Colonel Muammar Qadhafi has publicly and brutally re-acquired the pariah status that he earned throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s.
The 18 March resolution will not have an immediate impact on the oil sector as no oil was being exported from Libya anyway, but it entirely changes the future dynamic.
Since the anti-Qadhafi rebellion sparked off in mid-February, it has been hard to tell what oil is being exported from Libya and under what circumstances. The most recent estimate from the International Energy Agency is that exports have halted, writes John Hamilton
Oil output: Taps are turned off, some cargoes leave
Crude output all but ceased in the last week of February as the battle for Libya reached oil fields and export terminals. In a rambling 24 February call to national television, Muammar Qadhafi said oil may have already stopped flowing.
The decision to agree a domestic gas price linked to the Zeebrugge hub spot price, reported by African Energy in late October, appears to be a setback for National Oil Corporation chairman Shukri Ghanem (AE 196/19). Issue 198, 19 November 2010. more
NOC decides domestic gas price
An ad hoc committee at National Oil Corporation has reached agreement in principle on the price at which gas will be sold to end users within the country. Issue 196 - 22 October 2010.more
Qadhafi, Free Libya forces fight to a standstill over oil as well as territory
Both sides are seeking to keep their domestic markets supplied and structure oil deals as they seek to gain a definitive advantage in the Libyan conflict’s new, internationalised phase, write John Hamilton and Jon Marks Issue 206, 1 April 2011.more
On the evening of Tuesday 16 March, the citizens of Benghazi were coming to terms with the fact that the strategic town of Ajdabiya had fallen to Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s forces, leaving their volunteer army and the undefended eastern capital itself at the mercy of a better equipped and trained army – known for its ruthlessness. CbI’s Jon Marks was among the majority of foreigners who pulled out of Benghazi that night, heading for Tobruk and then the Egyptian border.
The United Nations approval of military involvement in Libya, and its imposition of sanctions on National Oil Corporation (NOC) and other institutions, substantially changes the balance of Libya’s internal conflict. Colonel Muammar Qadhafi has publicly and brutally re-acquired the pariah status that he earned throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s.
The 18 March resolution will not have an immediate impact on the oil sector as no oil was being exported from Libya anyway, but it entirely changes the future dynamic.
Realisation of the seriousness of the situation in revolutionary Benghazi only struck home in the late afternoon of 15 March with conflicting reports about the possible fall of Ajdabiya. On the morning of 16 March reports came in of a government bombardment at the eastern capital’s airport and other strategic locations. As African Energy went to press, a majority of foreigners had left for the border with Egypt.
Libyans look to speedy transition following Qadhafi’s last stand
Post-Qadhafi Libya is forming itself even before the old dictator departs, with a leadership that can avoid the country splitting up, while new institutions are created and Libyans get back to work. Much of the oil industry is shut in but all sides are anxious to turn on the taps, provided a full civil war can be avoided, write Jon Marks and John Hamilton Issue 204, 4 March 2011. more
Crisis - dealing with the Qadhafis leaves difficult legacy for range of players
The international companies that worked so hard to obtain major contracts from the Libyan regime, and their diplomatic backers and bankers, now find themselves confronted with an awkward situation. The unspoken rule of many transactions in recent years has been to find a member of the Qadhafi family – or more usually their representatives – to sponsor a deal through the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) bureaucracy and power elite.
As senior officials and military officers desert the regime in ever greater numbers, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s deliberately chaotic labyrinth of rival governmental and security institutions is collapsing. Understanding how he played off competing factions within the regime against each other to prevent any alternative power structure from emerging is fundamental to assessing how this crisis could end and what will follow, writes John Hamilton
Analysis from CbI, African Energy's parent company, 25 February 2011. Download the full bulletin
Libya crisis: Big oil under pressure as Qadhafi’s other children finally have their say
International oil companies and Libya’s other commercial partners have been caught out by the extent of popular protest that has placed the regime in mortal peril. Even if the Brother Leader survives, Libya will be a very different place in which to do business. If Muammar Qadhafi falls, the shape of a successor regime is very unclear, given the dominance of the Colonel and his idiosyncratic form of government over the past 41 years. John Hamilton and Jon Marks take stock as the crisis unfolds.
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