UAE oil and gas companies are positioning themselves for a move into Libya, encouraged by assurances that they will receive preferential treatment as payback for the Government's support of anti-Qaddafi forces during last year's civil war.
"We have been told very clearly: the authorities are encouraging UAE and Qatar companies. They want to give them business opportunities, so we want to take advantage of this," said Nabil Alalawi, the chief executive at AlMansoori, an Abu Dhabi oilfield services provider. "Our strategy is to become a very dominant player in Libya; we were a minor player in Libya [before the war]."
Foreign oil companies shut down their operations in the country as fighting between Qaddafi loyalists and rebels broke out last February, bringing Libya's oil production to a standstill. They returned after hostilities ceased, and Libyan production has reached the 1 million barrels per day (bpd) mark since and is on track to reach the prewar level of 1.6 million bpd by the middle of this year.
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