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Mar 24, 2012

PRIVATIZATION OF LIBYAN OIL COMING SOON

One headline from Tripoli Post yesterday truly shocked me, the headline went like this :
 "Libya:Libyan Oil Firms Get more Autonomy to Become Economically Successful" 
Pause ...



As if they were not Economically Successful before?
As if using the word 'Autonomy' is less intrusive way to say "Privatization is coming"?
As if Privatization doesn't mean Private Success of the new owners?

"As Libya slowly gets rid of the heavy burden of the former regime and acquires new administration approach to its state-owned firms, especially in the oil sector, national companies are moving toward acquiring more autonomy in running their own affairs on cost-benefit basis"

As if having strategic resources in state's hands is a burden?
As if Libya didn't use cost-benefit base before?
As if the author does not remember that Libya had one of the cheapest oil extraction costs in the world, BEFORE the war?
As if the author is not aware how expensive is to extract oil NOW, with all the instability and the destruction of the substantial part of the infrastructure?

"The new approach avoids the old one that was politically-oriented and based on what the government may or may not desire. This is was not the case during the 42-year oppressive rule of the former Gaddafi rule.", continues to write Tripoli Post.

As if he doesn't mean "oppressive towards US lust for Libyan oil"?

"Now the approach will likely be more based on rational economic and business planning that takes into consideration the cost-benefit elements in decision making than the one that made of the Libyan oil administrators as servants of the dead infamous dictator Gaddafi and his sons. "

As if the new oil administrators are not servants of the alive infamous dictators Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Al Thani?

"At the first oil and gas summit held in Rome since the end of the former regime and the eight-month revolution, signs of such new approach appeared.
A new system in place will devolve power to subsidiary firms previously controlled by the state's National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mohamed Elabdaly, chair of the Libya Oil and Gas Summit, told Reuters on Friday.
"Previously, subsidiaries did not have control over exploration, upgrading and training. All that will change," said Elabdaly in an interview given on the sidelines of the summit. "

Well, lucky us! Now subsidiaries will control oil exploration, upgrading and training as well.

"The aim is decentralization... The budget will be divided between counties, based on a formula that takes both population and geographical area into account," Elabdaly told Reuters."

How do you divide a soon to be PRIVATE COMPANY'S BUDGET between counties? Based on a formula of altruism?

"(Libyan) Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) was first in Libya to restart production.
An Agoco official said on the sidelines of the summit the Benghazi-based company did not want to regain control over its oil sales, but wanted independent control of its budget and projects.
Fawzi M. Bu Argoub, who manages Agoco's geology department, said the company was satisfied with the degree of autonomy granted from NOC, and was in favor of remaining under its supervision. 
Addressing the audience, Argoub said the company should manage its own future because it alone fully understood its potential. "Agoco needs to avoid centralization," he added."

Understandably, Agoco will not avoid federalization.

"Foreign oil companies’ contracts are due to be subject to a detailed review by a committee as many deals were influenced by the corruption that was widespread during Gaddafi rule. The review of these contracts has become a national demand that will also influence the coming parliamentarian elections. "

Eeer, was he mentioning cost-benefit base before? I thought he said oil should be a matter of economic and not political decisions. O no, that was centuries ago, I mean, a few sentences above. So, contracts to foreign oil companies will influence coming elections. Why? People won't feel comfortable if oil was given to NATO companies? Ups, this is a signal that a lot of off-shores with benign-internationally-sounding names need to be registered ASAP. Engineered oil PR train coming this way.

"Government had approved the 2012 budget, the largest in Libya's history, and the oil sector was expecting to receive the full amount requested, around $6 billion."

Concerning that Qatar (in out-of-NATO-press reality) controls most of Libyan oil production now, has the new Libyan government just decided to pay a lot of billions to a country which bombed and destroyed Libyan infrastructure couple of months ago
The largest ever budget will be given to the enemy, while wounded Libyan people trash Libyan embassies around the world in anger cause the new government 'does not have money' to pay them hefty state benefits, which they used to get on regular basis under Gaddafi's "dictatorship".

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