Occidental still upbeat on Libyan oil deals
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY - News) continues to "actively negotiate" upstream oil concessions in Libya, where it was forced to leave in 1986 due to U.S. government sanctions against the North African country, the company's chairman and chief executive said Monday.
"We've been gone 18 years so it takes a while to get everything in order. Things are moving and we do expect to go back and expand," Chairman and CEO Ray Irani told analysts on a conference call.
U.S. oil companies, including Los Angeles-based Occidental, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - News), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO - News) and Amerada Hess Corp. (NYSE:AHC - News), earlier this year began negotiations to resume operating at oil fields in Libya they left behind in 1986. The companies got the go ahead from the U.S. government to resume talks after diplomatic relations between Libya and the United states began to normalize with Libya's late 2003 renouncement of its program to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Irani said there have been no contractual or physical hindrances to the negotiations, even though no upstream deals have been struck yet. He implied negotiations could take longer because Oxy wants a larger stake in Libya's upstream production this time around.
"I don't see problems, I see opportunities. The facilities are in reasonably good shape. We're looking at a bigger presence than when we left," Irani said, adding this would require new technologies and additional capital.
Recent studies by the company indicate it would be able to fund an enlarged position in Libya with internal cash flow, Irani said.
While Libya has been courting international oil companies to invest in its relatively unexplored offshore oil sector, Irani said Oxy focus its efforts on onshore concessions because of its familiarity with the fields.
- Reuters
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY - News) continues to "actively negotiate" upstream oil concessions in Libya, where it was forced to leave in 1986 due to U.S. government sanctions against the North African country, the company's chairman and chief executive said Monday.
"We've been gone 18 years so it takes a while to get everything in order. Things are moving and we do expect to go back and expand," Chairman and CEO Ray Irani told analysts on a conference call.
U.S. oil companies, including Los Angeles-based Occidental, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - News), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO - News) and Amerada Hess Corp. (NYSE:AHC - News), earlier this year began negotiations to resume operating at oil fields in Libya they left behind in 1986. The companies got the go ahead from the U.S. government to resume talks after diplomatic relations between Libya and the United states began to normalize with Libya's late 2003 renouncement of its program to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Irani said there have been no contractual or physical hindrances to the negotiations, even though no upstream deals have been struck yet. He implied negotiations could take longer because Oxy wants a larger stake in Libya's upstream production this time around.
"I don't see problems, I see opportunities. The facilities are in reasonably good shape. We're looking at a bigger presence than when we left," Irani said, adding this would require new technologies and additional capital.
Recent studies by the company indicate it would be able to fund an enlarged position in Libya with internal cash flow, Irani said.
While Libya has been courting international oil companies to invest in its relatively unexplored offshore oil sector, Irani said Oxy focus its efforts on onshore concessions because of its familiarity with the fields.
- Reuters
publicado por MP às 21:34
