LIBYA - Part 3 - Exports & Logistics.

Libya is exporting 1.536m b/d of crude oil, up from 1.2m b/d in mid-2005. It also exports about 45,000 b/d of refined petroleum products and a limited volume of gas liquids (NGLs), down from over 100,000 b/d in mid-2005. The country has all the logistics required to maintain its market shares, with exports of high quality oil expected to increase in the coming years.

A priority in Libya's export strategy is to maintain a form of integration between its upstream sector and the petroleum markets of the West, including the US. The link now features key US E&P investors in Libya like Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and a US consortium led by ConocoPhillips which have returned to JVs they had to abandon following American sanctions in the 1980s. European E&P operators include Repsol of Spain, Agip of Italy, Wintershall of Germany, Total of France, and OMV of Austria (see Part 2 in omt2LibFields-July9-07 & gmt2LibFieldsJul9-07). These companies have the lion's share in crude oil liftings from Libya.

Italy is the main market for Libyan crude oils, refined petroleum products and chemicals. Libya accounts for more than 25% of Italy's oil requirements. Italy have been the main base for Libya's downstream investments in Europe, which are handled by Oilinvest and its operating unit Tamoil. But Oilinvest, which until recently used to be the overseas arm of the state-owned National Oil Corp. (NOC), now is controlled by a US equity firm Colony Capital which last month bought 65% into the group (see down3LibTransJul16-07).

Libya exports more natural gas to Italy than planned through a marine pipeline built to Sicily and inaugurated in October 2004. This brought about a high degree of integration between the two countries (see gmt3LibGasExprtJul16-07). Libya once was an Italian colony.