There goes Muscat’s much-trumpeted ‘cheaper oil deal’ with Libya
You’d have thought he’d have seen this one coming – oil being held hostage, ports closed by tribes, country awash with militias, and his photo-opportunity friend the Libyan prime minister confined to the capital with fears for his safety.
Times of Malta reports this evening:
Oil is the main source of revenue for the North African country and the disruptions have cost the government billions of dollars.
The longer the disruptions last the harder it may become for the government to meet the demands of local interest groups who are blocking oil exports as a means of pressuring a government that has struggled to assert its authority in a country awash with guns and powerful militia.
The government in Tripoli has become increasingly isolated since early summer and has only limited resources to control disruptions outside the capital, as indicated by the fact that Zeidan was briefly kidnapped last month.
Gunmen stole $55 million in a heist on a van carrying local and foreign currency for the Libyan central bank in the coastal city of Sirte on Monday, state news agency Lana said.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131029/world/libya-oil-crisis-deepens-as-protesters-shun-talks.492444#.UnAUjzK9KSM
Didn’t Joseph Muscat say thaat he wanted the UN to patrol Libyan ports?
He said that in the context of immigration.
But he doesn’t convince me.
He was told “holl xaghrek u gib iz-zejt”, hence the mess.
Did they say that to Ramona? Konrad should be able to reduce the tariffs by 50.2348943% (you know, Konrad likes to be precise with his numbers) on average.
What a mess we’re in.
To complicate matters, Mediterranean Oil and Gas seems set to lose a court case against some other oil company and their share price has dwindled to £5 from the healthy £12 it was some months ago.
http://www.medoilgas.com/
Mediterranean Oil and Gas should be starting to drill for oil in Maltese waters in a few months’ time.
Joseph Muscat is trying to emulate what Mintoff did in the 1970s. I hope this nightmarish déjà vu will not end up with the Libyan gunboat, which is being repaired at the Cassar Ship Repair Yard, pointing its guns at the MOG oil rig.
Good point, Gahan.
It is becoming more unlikely that MOG will drill the much vaunted oil well in Area 4 early next year.
Firstly, there is the matter of litigation with Leni oil & Gas and secondly, we are dealing with a scoundrel named Tony Hayward (ex-BP boss responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico) who is now CEO of Genel Energy that holds a 75% stake of Area 4 licence.
No one would touch Tony Hayward with a barge pole, except Malta, of course (should we sell him a passport?).
My question is: who gave the local ‘technical’ input that resulted in the PN government’s approval, only a few months ago, of MOG’s farm out of 75% of Area 4 licence to Genel Energy?
That ‘technical’ input came from Dr Albert Caruana, now Head of the Oil Exploration Division. Dr Caruana is not known for his knowledge of oil exploration but has talent for hugging his master Joe Mizzi right after the March election (he was hugging George before March, but in the Judas manner). He is flying to Rome today with Joe Mizzi for the Oil & Gas summit (more like anti-climax rather than a summit).
Meanwhile, Joe Mizzi keeps boasting about an oil well to be drilled in Area 4 early next year. Keep dreaming Joe. You are surrounded by incompetents and you exceed them in their stupidity.
They have a Plan B for public transport. Perhaps they also have a Plan B for Libyan oil.
And in the The Times this morning.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article3907932.ece