Mediaboss Marketing

LONDON Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore has extended a deal with Libya's state oil firm to be the sole marketer of one third of the country's current crude oil production, sources familiar with the matter said.

It was not clear for how long Glencore would continue to have exclusivity over the output and whether some parts of the deal would be renegotiated.

The deal extends Glencore's dominance over rivals such as Vitol and Trafigura in handling barrels from the North African country for a second year running.

A spokesman for Glencore declined to comment. Officials at Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. (NOC) also declined to comment.

Libya has struggled for years to end a crippling blockade of its oil ports amid a civil war and Islamic State intrusions. Between security fears and erratic supply, refiners eventually stopped attempting to buy from the North African country.

With a dwindling revenue stream, NOC needed an intermediary that was comfortable managing the risks, able to market the oil globally and pay cash upfront for the cargoes.

Glencore snapped up the opportunity in September 2015 to resell the only relatively stable onshore output - from the Sarir and Mesla oilfields loaded at the country's easternmost Marsa el-Hariga port. Libya's small offshore production also continued.

Since 2015, the trader has been the only company able to buy Sarir and Mesla crude output directly from Libya's NOC and is expected to continue as NOC has largely finalised its 2017 allocations.

Libya's production has recovered to around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) and NOC hopes output will rise to 1.2 million bpd by the end of the year.

"It is a big mosaic at the moment, but Glencore has kept a large chunk of the trade," one of the sources said.

Glencore's deal entitles it to around 230,000 bpd from the Sarir and Mesla oilfields, the sources added. It also regularly delivers crucial refined fuel as Libya's refining system operates well below capacity. Glencore trades about 4.4 million bpd of crude and refined products.

Vitol and Petraco have also been picking up cargoes but on a small scale, and producers with stakes in oilfields in the country such as Total, Repsol, OMV have returned to loading tankers, as have buyers such as Unipec, the trading arm of China's state-owned Sinopec.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Mark Potter)

LONDON Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to sell its stake in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), an offshore oil and gas joint venture, in what would mark the company's effective exit from Denmark, three banking sources said.

SINGAPORE Singapore Exchange has held talks with Saudi Aramco on a secondary listing, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, after the oil and gas company suggested last week it would likely simultaneously list on more than one exchange.

OSLO Hit by the oil industry recession, Norwegian offshore service vessel (OSV) operators Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and Solstad Offshore announced plans to merge on Monday to counter the downturn.

Excerpt from:
Trading giant Glencore extends major Libyan oil deal: sources - Reuters

Tripoli - More than 120 migrants, including women and children, were rescued by Libyan coastguards on Sunday off the coast of Tripoli after their boat ran into trouble.

The migrants set off Friday from Sabratha - a town 70km west of Libya's capital that has become a staging ground for traffickers - but their boat's engine failed, a coastguard official said.

An AFP photographer at the scene of the rescue said the vessel was intercepted by a coastguard patrol boat around 20 nautical miles northeast of Tripoli.

The official said those on board were of various African nationalities and included 10 women and five children, including a baby.

Libya said on Saturday it had intercepted more than 400 migrants bound for Europe in recent days.

The announcement followed a meeting of European Union leaders in Malta where they agreed moves to curb mass migration from Libya.

The plan includes funding and training Libya's coastguard to make it better able to intercept migrant boats and helping neighbouring countries to close routes into Libya, according to a draft statement seen by AFP.

Lawlessness in Libya since a 2011 uprising that ousted longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi has allowed smuggling networks to develop a lucrative trafficking trade.

Italy's coastguard said Thursday that more than 1 750 migrants had been rescued in the Mediterranean within 24 hours.

Around 230 people have died en route to Europe since the start of 2017, according to the United Nations.

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

Go here to see the original:
Libya rescues 120 migrants off Tripoli coast - News24

SAVED FROM THE SEA: A medic tends to the baby of a migrant after she was arrested by Libyan coastguards in Tripoli yesterday Picture: REUTERS

More than 120 migrants including women and children were rescued by Libyan coastguards off the coast of Tripoli yesterday after their boat ran into trouble.

The migrants set off on Friday from Sabratha a town 70km west of Libyas capital that has become a staging ground for traffickers but their boats engine failed, a coastguard official said.

A photographer at the scene said the vessel was intercepted by a coastguard patrol boat around 20 nautical miles northeast of Tripoli.

The official said those on board were of various African nationalities and included 10 women and five children, including a baby.

Libya said on Saturday it had intercepted more than 400 migrants bound for Europe in recent days.

The announcement followed a meeting of European Union leaders in Malta where they agreed on moves to curb mass migration from Libya.

The plan includes funding and training Libyas coastguard to make it better able to intercept migrant boats and helping neighbouring countries to close routes into Libya, according to a draft statement.

Lawlessness in Libya since a 2011 uprising that ousted longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi has allowed smuggling networks to develop a lucrative trafficking trade.

Italys coastguard said on Thursday more than 1 750 migrants had been rescued in the Mediterranean within 24 hours.

Share on Google Plus Share

More:
Libya rescues 120 migrants off Tripoli - Herald live

Ukraine and Libya will be in focus when EU foreign affairs ministers meet on Monday (6 February).

The fighting in eastern Ukraine escalated last week, in what many fear was a Kremlin test to see how the new US president would react.

Subscribe now for unrestricted access to EUobserver.

Sign up for 30 days' free trial, no obligation. Full subscription only 15 / month or 150 / year.

EUobserver is the only independent news media covering EU affairs in Brussels and all 28 member states.

We value your support.

If you already have an account click here to login.

Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to work with both Kiev and Moscow to restore peace "along the border", even though fighting is taking place deep inside eastern Ukraine.

Uncertainty over future US policy will weigh on the EU ministers' discussion of the implementation of the EU-backed Minsk ceasefire agreement, which aims to stop Russian-controlled forces from waging war in eastern Ukraine.

They will also review Ukraine's efforts to fight corruption ahead of a meeting between Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Groysman and council president Donald Tusk on Thursday.

The foreign affairs council will review the political situation in Libya, one year after the formation of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

Ministers will discuss how to work with Libya to stop migrants from trying to cross the Mediterranean after EU heads of state on Friday pledged to pay the GNA 200 million to reinforce its coastguard.

The European Parliament will also discuss Ukraine on Monday, as the subcommittee on security and defence hosts the country's deputy PM, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

The EU special envoy to south Caucasus, Herbert Salber, and Georgia's EU ambassador, Natalie Sabanadze, will come to discuss the increasing Russian influence in the region.

On Thursday, the Dieselgate scandal will feature in two committee meetings, held simultaneously in the European Parliament.

EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska will discuss how the cheating was made possible with members of the parliament's special inquiry committee into the affair.

Meanwhile, in the internal market and consumer affairs committee, MEPs will vote on a plan, tabled a year ago by Bienkowska, to increase EU oversight on national car approval systems.

More EU involvement is hoped to prevent further scandals, but it is unclear how far the European Parliament's committee intends to go. The vote has been delayed several times in an attempt to find compromises.

Also on Thursday, the parliament's civic liberties (Libe) committee will hold a discussion on the Schengen free-travel area.

Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway have asked to prolong for a further three months the temporary internal border checks they introduced in May 2016 in response to growing migration flows.

In the sidelines, the parliament's political groups will prepare for next week's plenary session, which will feature ratification of the controversial EU-Canada trade agreement (Ceta).

Read more here:
Ukraine, Libya and Dieselgate on EU agenda This WEEK - EUobserver

Libya's coast guard intercepted at least 1131 migrants near the western city of Sabratha over the course of a week, a spokesman says.

Ayoub Qassem said 431 migrants had been intercepted on four inflatable boats off Sabratha's coast on Thursday and some 700 had been picked up on January 27 from three wooden vessels in the same area.

"The illegal migrants are from various sub-Saharan countries and include a big number of women and children," Qassem said of those intercepted on Thursday.

Those intercepted on January 27 also included migrants from Syria, Tunisia, Libya and the Palestinian territories, he said, and smugglers had attempted to block the coast guards from taking those migrants from their boats.

"Smugglers had tried to foil the process of arrest by opening fire on our coast guards but the coast guards fired back and that forced the smugglers to withdraw."

Libya has become the main point of departure for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean by boat to Europe since a route between Turkey and Greece was largely closed off last year.

People smugglers generally operate with impunity, launching migrants in flimsy vessels that sometimes break down or sink before they are spotted by rescue boats operated by an EU naval mission and by non-government organisations. More than 4500 died attempting the crossing last year.

Libya's coastguard sends migrants back to detention centres that rights groups have criticised for their inhumane conditions and widespread abuses.

On Friday, European leaders offered Libya money and other assistance to try to curb record migrant flows from the North African country.

Aid groups criticised the move, saying such plans exposed migrants to further risks and abuses.

Go here to read the rest:
Libya pulls 1131 from sea in one week - NEWS.com.au