Israel attacks Total for investment stance - FINANCIAL TIMES

LONDON, 10 February 2019

David Sheppard and David Keohane

Israel has attacked French energy major Total after its chief executive told the Financial Times that it was too “complex” a country to invest in.

Israel’s energy minister Yuval Steinitz, who was visiting London to drum up interest in the country’s next gas licensing round and discuss energy co-operation, said companies such as Total that refused to invest in Israel were living in “past decades” and were in hock to the “tyranny and dictatorship” of Tehran.

“I reject it with two hands, I think this is a miserable view,” Mr Steinitz told the Financial Times.

“We will consider our reaction to this as it is totally unacceptable, to boycott [Israel].”

Patrick Pouyanné, Total chief executive, told the FT in an interview that it was too “complex” to invest in Israel despite the country’s growing role as a gas producer, indicating his company’s relationships with other states in the Middle East was a sticking point.

Total acquires a 16.33% stake in the Waha Concessions in Libya - TOTAL

2018/MARCH/02

Paris - Total has acquired Marathon Oil Libya Limited which holds a 16,33% stake in the Waha Concessions in Libya. This acquisition will give Total access to reserves and resources in excess of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent, with immediate production of around 50.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and a significant exploration potential across the area of 53.000 square kilometers covered by the Concessions in the prolific Sirte Basin. The consideration payment for the transaction is 450 million U.S. dollars.

“This acquisition is in line with Total’s strategy to reinforce its portfolio with high quality and low-technical cost assets whilst bolstering our historic strength in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total. “It builds on the Group’s long-term presence in Libya, a country with very large oil and gas resources, and demonstrates our commitment to continue supporting the recovering oil and gas industry of the country.”

Libya's oil output revival thwarted by pipeline explosion - WORLD OIL / BLOOMBERG

DEC/26/2017

SALMA EL WARDANY

CAIRO (Bloomberg) -- Libya’s oil industry revival suffered a setback Tuesday after an explosion at a pipeline carrying crude to the OPEC nation’s biggest export terminal. Oil rallied as a result.

Production will drop by 70,000 to 100,000 bopd after the explosion, the state-run National Oil Corp. said in a statement. The pipeline, operated by Waha Oil Company, carries crude to the Es Sider terminal. The blast occurred 81 mi south of Sidra.

Libya's political chaos deepens - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

Tunis, 14 February 2017Chris Stephen

An Islamist militia attack on the Sirte Basin was repulsed. But more conflict looks likely

A new offensive by Islamist militias to capture Libya's eastern oilfields has set back the state oil company's hopes that foreign firms will return to the country's upstream - and creates new doubts about its ability to sustain an oil-output recovery.

The Benghazi Defence Brigades, originally from Benghazi and now occupying the central towns of Houn and Waddan, launched an offensive on 9 February against the Libyan National Army (LNA), which has since September controlled the Sirte Basin, the prolific heartland of Libya's oil sector.

Lebanon Set to Join East Mediterranean Race for Oil and Gasby - BLOOMBERG

4 January 2017, 3:20pmDana Khraiche

• Cabinet approved two bills setting up rules on tenders, blocks
• ExxonMobil, Chevron among companies qualified to be operators

Lebanon approved two measures allowing it to auction its first offshore oil and natural gas rights, ending three years of delays that kept the tiny country from joining a regional race to tap energy wealth in the eastern Mediterranean.

The newly formed government headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri passed the two decrees on Wednesday, state-run National News Agency reported, citing Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil. The decrees demarcate energy blocks, establish production-sharing contracts and specify tender protocols. They take effect with no need for additional approval.

The cabinet formed ministerial committees to study a petroleum tax draft law and another proposed law governing onshore oil resources, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said in a televised news conference. The cabinet also discussed the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund to manage the oil and gas revenue.