US firms could benefit from Libya's bid to review oil, gas sector
Washington (Platts)--19Nov2004
Libya's efforts to revitalize its gas and oil industry could provide ample business opportunities for US energy companies if they have the patience to pursue them, speakers at the US Chamber of Commerce conference said Friday. Libya's gas and oil sector is proving to be the "flagship of the country's opening to the West, and an experiment in transparency," said Ethan Chorin, economic and commercial officer with the US Liaison Office in Tripoli. He said, however, that "there are structural problems in Libya right now" that will likely pose obstacles to development for the next few years. Neil Livingstone, CEO of the Washington-based consulting firm Global Options, agreed, adding that Libya's energy sector "is badly in need of new technology and investment." Chorin said that while some major international producers such as Shell have begun negotiating for exploration-and-production rights in the oil sector, "Libya has no gas strategy at the moment." Some companies are looking into the possibility that Libya will be able to export liquefied natural gas to western Europe, "but there's not enough gas capacity at the moment to satisfy domestic consumption," much less to meet western European or other LNG demand, Chorin said. Nevertheless, as Libya emerges from decades of global sanctions, "there's a great interest in doing business with Americans," Livingstone said. "Things that are American have a sort of cachet there." But in the end, no matter how willing Libyans and Americans may be to do business with each other, progress in that realm will not happen overnight, the speakers agreed. "It's going to take a while to pursue these things; nothing's going to be quick," Chorin said. "It's a tough environment."
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