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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Razorbak who wrote (965)	3/29/1999 12:49:00 AM
From: balisurf	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 2742

Razorbak, Oxy is out...swapped their Malaysian interests in three undeveloped fields to Shell about 8 months back as part of a divestiture of gas dominated properties. Most logical choice? Total (who merged with Fina) and now hold part of the Bunga Kekwa field on the Vietnam side of PM-3; however they got burned bad in Vietnam and except for this "inherited" property would never be back. So, it probably isn't them either. Who else? Three other companies have been active acquiring assets in Malaysia this past year: (1) Santa Fe Energy (2) Amerada Hess and (3) YPF of Argentina. Amerada the most likely of these 3 with assets that could be swapped in the North Sea (as mentioned in the post). Dark horses? Exxon, large gas production in the near vicinity, Genting Oil of Malaysia (loads of cash) and Petronas themselves (I suppose). Balisurf

To: Razorbak who wrote (965)	4/5/1999 11:52:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

Financial Times Tuesday: "US oil companies determined to return to Libya" Business set to gain from ending of sanctions By Mark Huband in Cairo The handover of the two Libyans accused of the Lockerbie bombing cleared the way for the suspension of United Nations sanctions against Tripoli, opening up the possibility for foreign companies to take big stakes in infrastructure and transport projects worth up to $14bn. The sanctions regime imposed by the UN Security Council on December 1 1993 froze Libyan assets held abroad, with the exception of oil and gas earnings, and banned the sale to Libya of equipment for use in downstream oil and gas sector operations. The sanctions also imposed a ban on flights to and from Libya, and led to the suspension of operations by Libyan Arab Airlines (LLA), the national carrier. British Aerospace of the UK has been in discussions with Libya aimed at securing a $9.6m deal to refurbish LLA's fleet by providing new aircraft, as well as training pilots and technicians and reconstructing airports. Discussion of post-sanctions business was deemed by the UK government not to have broken the sanctions regime. Libyan plans to build a new 2,178km railway the length of its coastline and inland are expected to lead to contracts worth $4bn, while the upgrading of port facilities is also a probable area in which foreign companies will play a big role. European oil companies have accelerated investments in Libya ever since the US government abandoned plans in May 1998 to fine any foreign company investing more than $40m annually in either Libya or Iran. With European oil companies well established in the country, US companies are now determined to resume their presence in Libya. This was halted in 1986 when US unilateral sanctions, which are still in force, were imposed, forcing five big US companies to abandon up to $2bn worth of fixed assets and forfeit business worth up to $2.1bn a year. Libya has said their assets will be returned to the companies when they resume opera-tions in the country. Growing European demand for Libyan oil, which currently stands at 1m barrels a day, and gas, has intensified the US companies' determination to return. "We still have assets there, operated by the Libyan government. And if we were permitted by US law we would go back," said a spokesman for Conoco of the US earlier yesterday. "We don't believe that unilateral sanctions are very effective, and we would take the position that [with the UN sanctions lifted] there shouldn't be a unilateral stance by the US. If they are lifted, we will definitely go back." Col Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, last year promised Italian companies they would be given priority in the awarding of post-sanctions contracts. Up to 31 per cent of Italy's oil consumption is accounted for by Libyan supplies of around 490,000 b/d, and the 51 per cent state-owned oil company Eni is now advancing plans to build a $3.8bn gas pipeline between Libya and Italy. Libya's attraction to the non-hydrocarbons sector will, however, be strongly influenced by its ability to pay for the contracts which are under discussion. Oil price fluctuations have allowed Libya to limit the impact of sanctions on its economy for much of the past 20 years. But it now faces 30 per cent unemployment, 25 per cent inflation and the burden of a state sector that employs 700,000 people, or 20 per cent of the population. "They do need capital because of the fall in the oil price, but we have to weigh the possibility of investment against the attractions of the other markets in the region," says Angus Blair, head of equities for the Middle East and North Africa at ABN Amro. "The Libyans will have their work cut out for them when competing with the others that have already opened up to foreign capital." Libya's economic growth has been influenced strongly by declining oil prices, with oil revenues in 1999 expected to be down 24 per cent on 1998. Even so, government figures show the hydrocarbons sector contributing 22.9 per cent of GDP in 1997, a 40 per cent drop since 1980. But oil accounts for 95 per cent of foreign earnings and 50 per cent of government receipts. While the government had based its 1999 budget on an oil price of $18 a barrel, receipts have been down 35 per cent, equivalent to $11.7 a barrel. Observance of the sanctions regime has meanwhile greatly diminished detailed knowledge of what potential exists outside the main infrastructure and hydrocarbons-related projects that are Libyan priorities. "Very few companies have been looking at Libya carefully," says a senior US banker. "We will have to go back to looking at what there might be. But it has significant potential for project finance. After Algeria, it's a big one."