Conoco spurns fears over future of Libya fields - Dunham calms talk of company's concessions being sold off.
Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi waits to discover whether the US will lift its unilateral sanctions against the country
Upstream, May 9
Conoco chief executive Archie Dunham has rejected fears that the US giant's Libyan oilfields would be sold off, despite claims that some managers at the country's national oil company appeared to back the move.
"We feel very strongly that the Libyan national oil company will do nothing to diminish our ownership in that concession," said Dunham, who added that advocates of any such initiative did not appear to be in the majority in Libya.
Conoco, Marathon and Amerada Hess were forced to abandon their oil and gas fields in the North African country 15 years ago following the unilateral introduction of sanctions by the US over accusations Libya was sponsoring terrorism.
However, Libya continued to recognise the US oil companies' ownership of the assets and Conoco, a leading opponent of US sanctions against Libya and Iran, has said it hopes to return to both countries.
The current Iran-Libya Sanctions ACT is due to expire in August.
______________________________________
Conoco CEO sees no threat to ownership of Libya assets
HOUSTON (Reuters) May 8 - Conoco Inc. Chief Executive Officer Archie Dunham said Tuesday some managers at Libya's national oil company appeared to favor selling oilfields Conoco was forced to abandon 15 years ago because of unilateral U.S. sanctions against the North African nation, but he said he did not expect this to happen.
"We feel very strongly that the Libyan national oil company will do nothing to diminish our ownership in that concession," Dunham told reporters Tuesday in response to questions about the possible sale of oilfields owned by U.S. companies in Libya.
Conoco, Marathon Oil Co. and Amerada Hess Corp. were forced to abandon oil and gas properties they owned in Libya in 1986 when the United States implemented sanctions against the country, which it accused of sponsoring terrorism.
However, Libya continued to recognize the U.S. oil companies' ownership of the assets and Conoco, a leading opponent of U.S. sanctions against Libya and Iran, has said it hopes to return to both countries if and when sanctions are lifted.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that German oil company Wintershall, a unit of chemical company BASF AG , was seeking permission from Libya to drill in fields owned by the U.S. oil companies.
Dunham said the United States was likely to take a negative view of any action that amounted to confiscation of U.S. assets, and added that advocates of any such initiative did not appear to be in the majority in Libya.
"I think there are probably segments of the management of the Libyan national oil company that are frustrated with the lack of action by the United States government on lifting the unilateral sanctions," he said.
Dunham said he remained optimistic that the Bush administration and Congress would agree to lift unilateral sanctions preventing U.S. companies from investing in Libya and Iran or doing business with them, though he recognized that some members of Congress wanted to keep the sanctions in place.
The current Iran-Libya Sanctions ACT (ILSA) is due to expire in August.
Dunham said Conoco, the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, was especially keen to play a role in the development of Iran's huge Azadegan oil field which has estimated recoverable reserves of five to six billion barrels of oil.
"We are extremely interested in that opportunity and I feel optimistic that we will have the chance to invest in that opportunity longer-term," he said. |
