Libya granted on Saturday its first oil exploration licenses in over four decades, awarding 15 permits to foreign companies, with US companies taking the lion's share.
Occidental Petroleum Corp of the United States picked up five licenses, and shares rights in four others with the Australian company Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
ChevronTexaco received a license to explore the Marzouk basin south of the capital Tripoli. The US company Amerada Hess also won a license.
India Ltd and India Corp received a license to explore the Syrte region.
Verenex Energy Inc of Canada, Algeria's Sonatrach, and Medco Energy International of Indonesia also won licenses.
The 15 licenses give rights to search for oil over 127,000 km2 of territory.
With Africa's largest reserves, Libya is seeking massive investment to boost its oil sector, whose development was stunted under international sanctions imposed following the bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
With those sanctions eased after Libya agreed to pay the victims millions of dollars in compensation in 2003, the country held its first tender for exploration licenses since oil was found in 1959.
Each company that received a license is expected to invest US$750 million into exploration, with much more for extraction of any oil found. The Libyan government is to get part of any oil produced.
Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, who opened the ceremony of awarding the licenses, said Libya has opted for a policy of open communication and the objective is "total transparence."
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS