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.
Hess has announced a successful test of its A1-54/01 discovery well in the Mediterranean Sea. The well was first drilled in the Arous Al-Bahar prospect in 2008 and encountered hydrocarbons in several intervals with a combined gross section of approximately 500ft. Issue 176, 11 December 2009.more
Woodside sells up as IOCs reassess operations
Dr Shukri Ghanem’s return to the helm of National Oil Corporation (NOC) has not been sufficient to persuade a number of international oil companies that they have a long-term future in Libya at a time of high costs and tight finance (AE 173/24). Issue 175, 27 November 2009.more
Verenex sale near to finalisation
Shareholders in Canada’s Verenex Energy will meet on 11 December to approve the company’s sale to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) for C$350m ($330m) (AE 170/4, 168/19). The deal is expected to be completed three days later. Issue 175, 27 November 2009.more
Tripoli-Mellitah gas pipeline delays
The companies involved in building the Tripoli-Mellitah gas pipeline have met to discuss problems hindering completion of the project. Issue 175, 27 November 2009.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
The son also rises as Ghanem returns to the helm of Libya’s NOC
Two months after his unexpected resignation, Dr Shukri Ghanem has returned to his old job as chairman of National Oil Corporation (NOC) (AE 170/1). But although international oil companies and other foreign participants in Libya’s energy sector may draw some comfort from this equally sudden victory for the Jamahiriya’s liberalising tendency, it is far from clear that business is about to get easier. Issue 173, 30 October 2009.more
Pointer – More time for Verenex/LIA talks Issue 173, 30 October 2009.more
Government sets oil field targets
The government has published a detailed oilfield development programme which shows how it intends to deploy the LD12bn-worth of investment it announced in September to increase output from 1.7m b/d to more than 2.3m b/d by 2013 (AE 170/3). Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Qadhafi son and National Security Council take Libyan energy oversight role as NOC gets new head
Libya has set up a new committee to run the energy sector. Following Shukri Ghanem’s resignation, its line-up looks like a victory for Qadhafi’s conservative third son Muatassim over his reformist elder brother Saif Al-Islam. But in typically Libyan fashion, Ghanem’s successor at NOC may provide a reformist counterweight, writes John Hamilton Issue 171, 2 October 2009.more
Libya in confusion as oil industry contemplates future without Ghanem
Oil industry reformer Shukri Ghanem’s resignation after a dispute with the prime minister is shrouded in mystery, but NOC seems determined to carry on business as usual. Beneath the recent dramatic developments in Tripoli lies Muammar Qadhafi, who has been reasserting his will over swathes of the economy, writes John Hamilton Issue 170, 18 September 2009.more
Nearly a decade of quiet British diplomacy and adroit Libyan manoeuvring left Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill with no realistic option but to return convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset Ali Mohammed Al-Megrahi to Libya. Any alternative would have thrown into question the whole logic of rapprochement with Libya – one of the UK’s few notable international triumphs of recent years. Issue 169, 4 September 2009.more
Contract renegotiations, volatile policy-making test Tripoli and its partners to the limit
The great opportunities that tempted so many international players into Libya’s energy sector have not gone away. But IOCs who entered the Jamahiriya on ground-breaking EPSA-4 terms will this year relinquish assets for the first time since Libya reopened to the global economy. This will test to the limit Tripoli’s belief that it can renegotiate ever tougher terms with its partners, writes John Hamilton, who edited this African Energy special report. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Gecol toys with IPP plan to solve finance problems
Gecol’s leadership problems are exacerbating the state utility’s already serious financial and management problems. But despite a lack of organisation at the top levels of the company, speculation is mounting that Gecol could usher in the Jamahiriya’s first independent power project as it seeks to mobilise financing for Libya’s ambitious generation plans. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Slow start for wind and solar
Libya has been slow to start developing renewable energy projects. Unlike neighbouring Algeria, where a large solar project is under discussion and an experimental hybrid gas/solar plant is already under construction, Libya has no major projects in the pipeline. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Nuclear – Former pariah gets international support
After years of political isolation, Libya has emerged from isolation by signing agreements with France, Russia, Ukraine and Canada to develop a civil nuclear energy programme. The Canadian MoU to co-operate on nuclear energy was signed in Tripoli on 29 July. It covers co-operation in nuclear research and in the mining, processing and transport of uranium, as well as its use in medicine and desalination projects. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Power Project Update: Generation, transmission and distribution
A full list of power projects in Libya and their current status Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Companies spend millions on exploration but NOC’s production targets may fall further
The government has been forced to abandon ambitious targets as output grows more slowly than anticipated, while bureaucratic delays and shifting contract terms have put NOC under pressure, writes John Hamilton Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
International Oil Companies – Huge investment pledges from hard negotiations
National Oil Corporation (NOC)’s renegotiations of long-term production contracts over the past 18 months have been painful for its partners. Five international operating companies (IOCs) led by Italy’s Eni SpA accepted the halving of their production shares in return for licence extensions of up to 30 years. Agreed during the period of extremely high oil prices, the new contracts commit the companies to massive investments over the next five to seven years, but with a sharply reduced upside. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
First EPSA-4s in final phase
The optimistic days of untrammelled competition, when companies were happy to accept minimal production shares in return for a stake in the Jamahiriya’s hydrocarbons future now seem far away. In the coming year, the future of more than 20 IOCs which entered Libya in the first two EPSA-4 licensing rounds in 2005 will be decided. A few will develop fields, but many will have to choose between relinquishing exploration blocks or negotiating extensions with National Oil Corporation. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Verenex remains mired in messy Libyan ‘squeeze play’ saga
Libyans in general and National Oil Corporation in particular have acquired a reputation as ruthless negotiators. But NOC’s ‘gloves-off’ approach to its dealings with Verenex Energy, the Calgary-based independent which is looking to cash in on its substantial exploration success, has dismayed industry observers. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
The most successful IOCs exploring in Libya are those who agreed licences in 2003 at the end of the three-year EPSA-3 licensing process. More than 120 blocks were offered to companies at the Zawia investment conference in 2000, of which a relatively small number were contracted after lengthy negotiations. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Huge exploration commitments are Libya’s best chance
Three of the biggest exploration programmes planned in Libya over the next period are now under way. Massive investments from Royal Dutch Shell, BP plc and ExxonMobil offer the Jamahiriya its best chance of discovering and developing large-scale oil or gas fields in the medium term. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Gazprom to participate in El-Feel field by year-end
A long-negotiated co-operation deal, under which the Gazprom group will acquire half of Eni SpA’s 33.3% stake in the Murzuq Basin El-Feel (Elephant) field in area NC174, may be close to completion Issue 168, 4 August 2009. more
Libya upstream update – mixed fortunes for IOCs
A listing of past and current oil and gas exploration and production projects in Libya. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Tripoli looks to partners for refineries’ expansion
Like many African countries, Libya has its share of refining projects that have never been built, but the authorities’ new enthusiasm for joint ventures has seen the pace pick up. Now’s the time to see how long investors’ pockets really are Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
The government tends towards diversification
National Oil Corporation’s new willingness to strike commercial deals followed the March 2006 appointment of reformist former prime minister Shukri Ghanem as NOC chairman. However, it has taken some time for Ghanem’s change of policy to work its way through the system. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Petrocemicals – Norwegians show benefits of tapping foreign funds and skills
National Oil Corporation’s policy of opening its downstream to private investors is bearing fruit in the petrochemicals sector, where Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara International in February confirmed a joint venture with NOC and Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) to upgrade the Marsa Al-Brega urea and ammonia plant. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Oil Trading – Crude allocations remain complex in contracting market
In spite of a sharp reversal in the oil market over the past nine months, the strategies for buying and selling Libyan crude oil have changed little. Companies still face a complex process: first to secure an allocation and then to negotiate the appropriate discount, if it is available. There are precise rules governing what categories of buyers are permitted to make such deals and traders told African Energy that, in practice, additional approval is probably also necessary from the highest level of government and national leadership. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Eni plans to increase gas sales
Eni SpA continues to invest heavily in Libya. The Italian major plans to increase gas production from the onshore Wafa and offshore Bahr Es-salam fields by 3bn m3/yr to reach about 13bn m3/yr by 2014. The fields are part of the Western Libyan Gas Project (WLGP) in which Eni has a 50% stake. Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Libyan downstream hydrocarbons projects update
A full list of downstream projects in Libya and their current status Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Fortieth anniversary celebrations to mark a regime entrenched
The 40th anniversary of Muammar Qadhafi’s Fatah Revolution will confirm the regime’s hold on power and ability to shape Libya’s direction. Changes are anticipated to the way the political system operates, but more important still may be shifts in the pecking order within the first family, writes Jon Marks Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
NOC’s push to get international operators to do work and employ locally makes political sense to Tripoli, but localisation measures are adding to the pressure on foreign partners Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Investment funds look for partners as they push into Africa
Tripoli’s several Africa-focused investment funds have announced dozens of energy sector and other deals in the past year. Now they are looking for western partners to create the joint ventures that might turn many of these deals into genuine projects Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Short-term emphasis dominates trade and project financing trends
Through adroit political manoeuvres, Colonel Qadhafi has steered his country back into the global mainstream; rising income from hydrocarbons has swelled the coffers of Libyan investment funds and enhanced their ability to make deals across Africa and beyond. But despite such positive indicators – discussed in articles below – the terms offered by the trade and project finance market remain tight, and demand for cover from Libya is thin, according to the financiers who talked to Kevin Godier Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Placing a spotlight on opportunities, pitfalls of doing business in Libya
This special African Energy report dedicated to Libya is published one month ahead of the 40th anniversary of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s ‘Great El Fatah Revolution’. Edited by John Hamilton, it takes stock of the Libyan electricity, gas and oil industries. It examines the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s governance and financial record, and assesses the potential for international partners to do business in the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses). Issue 168, 4 August 2009.more
Allegations raise heat on Verenex sale
The Libyan government’s decision to investigate allegations of impropriety against Canada’s Verenex Energy represents a further strengthening of its hard line on negotiations with international partners. Issue 166, 3 July 2009.more
Oil production target cut
The government has revised its plans for increasing oil output, cutting its production target for 2013 to 2.3m b/d from 3m b/d. At an extraordinary meeting on 19 May, the General People’s Committee (GPC, cabinet) discussed the development plan for the oil sector over the next five years. Issue 164 , 5 June 2009.more
Petrobras drills in Area 18
Operator Petrobras is drilling the A1-18/01 exploration well in offshore Area 18. Issue 164 , 5 June 2009.more
IOCs evaluate Libya prospects as drilling campaigns conclude
Companies say the gloomiest prognoses for the Libyan industry, recorded in the last issue of African Energy, may not be realised, but several face testing decisions in the coming months, writes John Hamilton. Issue 162, 8 May 2009.more
Verenex saga continues
The uncertainties of oil exploration in Libya, and the delays that accompany every major deal and decision have been emphasised by the ongoing saga over one of the great success stories of the EPSA-4 process. Issue 162, 8 May 2009.more
Libyan upstream prospects darken as IOCs feel local pressures, beyond the global squeeze
Times are tough for international companies exploring in Libya. Firms without major long-term programmes to take them through the current downturn are hurting as budgets are slashed while the authorities are cranking up the pressure in search of bigger revenues, writes John Hamilton. Issue 161, 24 April 2009.more
Unbowed, Chinese seek opportunities across the Libyan upstream
Already strongly represented by its services companies, Beijing hasn’t given up hope of taking a major operating position in the Libyan upstream, even though National Oil Corporation (NOC) has rejected China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)’s offer for Canada’s Verenex Energy Inc (AE 159/18). Issue 161, 24 April 2009.more
Libyan success for Sonatrach
While many IOCs complain that disappointments with the drill bit, as well as the growing demands of government, are discouraging them in what seemed a global-scale business opportunity, Algeria’s state company Sonatrach has announced a find that will give heart to its efforts to become a significant player in E&P outside its home market. Issue 161, 24 April 2009.more
Gas pooling could boost LNG prospects
The gas pooling arrangements that made possible the development of an LNG project in Angola could also be suitable for developing Libyan LNG trains, according to Total vice president for North Africa Jean-François Arrighi de Casanova. Issue 160, 3 April 2009.more
Natural gas, not just a business opportunity but also a strategic issue
Gas is a strategic issue, for consumers anxious to ensure security of supply, as well as for exporters looking to maximise the yield on heavy investments in liquefaction and pipelines, and – in some cases such as Russia’s Gazprom – seeking to gain political advantage through their control of an essential commodity (AE 147/1, 143/24, 135/1). Issue 160, 3 April 2009.more
NOC may snap up Verenex, overrule sale
Concerns that National Oil Corporation (NOC) may exercise its right of first refusal have clouded the sale of Canada’s Verenex Energy to China National Petroleum Corporation’s international arm (AE 158/5). NOC chairman Shukri Ghanem said NOC might decide to acquire the company itself rather than approve the sale. Issue 159, 20 March 2009.more
NOC details funding plans
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) will increase investments in oil and gas developments during 2009, in spite of widespread expectations of cuts in response to the lower oil price. Issue 159, 20 March 2009. more
Ras Lanuf refinery joint venture approved
National Oil Corporation (NOC) has finalised its joint venture company with a division of the UAE’s Al-Ghurair Group to develop the Ras Lanuf oil refinery (AE 156/7). Issue 159, 20 March 2009.more
First investment rating
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s awarded Libya its first credit rating on 18 March, underlining the extent to which the country has rejoined the global economic and financial mainstream. S&P said the strength of Libya’s balance sheet justified A- long-term and A-2 short-term foreign and local currency ratings, with a stable outlook. Issue 159, 20 March 2009.more
EPSA-4 winner Verenex recommends Chinese takeover bid
Chinese appetite for booking significant reserves has been underlined by the acceptance of Libya-focused Verenex Energy Inc’s board for a C$499m ($387m) takeover bid by China National Petroleum Corporation subsidiary CNPC International (CNPCI). Issue 158, 6 March 2009.more
Oil and Gas Council urges more contract renegotiations
Libya’s top energy policy-making body has called for the renegotiation of the remaining outstanding historic production contracts run by foreign operators. The Supreme Oil and Gas Council (SCOG) held its first meeting of the year on 28 February in Sirte. Issue 158, 6 March 2009.more
Libyan oil industry braces for NOC budget cuts
National Oil Corporation (NOC) may face large cuts in its budgets for the year ahead reflecting the fall in the price of oil. As African Energy was going to press, the annual General People’s Congress (GPC), which plays the role of parliament in the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) system, was in its concluding sessions. Issue 158, 6 March 2009.more
Total deal reflects business as usual in Libya
The French company’s successful renegotiation of its two oil production contracts shows that business is carrying on as usual in the Jamahiriya, despite recent talk of renationalisation, writes John Hamilton. Issue 157, 20 February 2009.more
Norwegians set up fertiliser JV
Norway’s Yara International has established its joint venture with National Oil Corporation and the Libyan Investment Authority to create Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company (Lifeco) to own and operate the fertiliser facilities at Marsa El Brega. Yara, NOC and LIA will have 50%, 25% and 25% ownership shares. The required licences have obtained approval under the Libyan investment law. Issue 157, 20 February 2009.more
‘Nationalisation threat’ points to Libyan business ambiguities
Is Libya, with its huge and apparently available upstream potential – not to mention its long pockets following several years of oil price boom – going to break investors’ hearts by embracing the sort of resource nationalism that the more liberal members of Muammar Qadhafi’s regime say the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) had left behind? Since Colonel Qadhafi said that Libya might nationalise the share of production currently owned by international oil companies, analysts have been attempting to explain what might lie behind the threat (AE 155/1). The answers are complex and probably several. Issue 156, 6 February 2009.more
Libyan press talk old talk, IOCs beware
Libya’s opening up has impressed international oil companies, but the Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) retains its capacity to surprise investors. Issue 155, 23 January 2009.more
Libyans pledge downstream projects in Egypt
Libya has announced plans to invest $5bn in three downstream projects in Egypt. The plans follow a visit by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Tripoli on 24 December. Issue 155, 23 January 2009.more
Buying spree for Hannibal’s state shipping company
General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) has announced the order of several oil tankers in the past month, which will more than double the national fleet at what GNMTC’s senior management – headed by Revolutionary Leader Muammar Qadhafi’s controversial younger son Captain Hannibal Muammar El Qadhafi – sees as attractive prices during a period of falling shipping costs. Issue 154, 9 January 2009. more
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