R 251104Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4168
INFO DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY TUNIS 
AMEMBASSY CAIRO 
AMEMBASSY RABAT 
AMEMBASSY VALLETTA 
AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 
AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS TRIPOLI 000912 
 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG; COMMERCE FOR NATE MASON; ENERGY FOR GINA ERIKSON; CAIRO 
FOR CLARENCE (ALEX) SEVERENS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV EIND ECON EMIN ENRG EPET ETRD PGOV LY
SUBJECT: LIBYA COMMERCIAL ROUND-UP FOR OCTOBER 2008 
 
OIL AND GAS 
 
¶1. (U) A New Oil Discovery by Sirte Oil Company: On October 7, 
Sirte Oil, a state-owned company, announced a new oil discovery 
in the well A1-NC216A in the Ghadames Basin. The well is located 
approximately 310 km southwest of Tripoli. The initial 
production testing established an oil rate of 1,725 barrels per 
day, and a gas rate of 0.25 million standard cubic feet per day. 
This well represents the company's first discovery in the block. 
[noc.com.ly, 10/7/2008] 
 
¶2. (U) Russian-British Firm TNK-BP Seeks to Develop Major Libyan 
Oil Field: After a conflict between the oil company's Russian 
and British shareholders was settled, TNK-BP received the right 
to compete with BP in international projects. TNK-BP is 
negotiating to develop Libya's Sarir field, one of the largest 
oilfields in Libya located about 500 kilometers east of Tripoli 
in the Sirte Basin. TNK-BP is ready to sell $1bn-$2bn to obtain 
the status of operator of Libya's Sarir project. The 
Russian-British oil producer is now in talks with Libya's 
National Oil Corporation (NOC) regarding the development of the 
Sarir field. In September, a delegation of TNK-BP top executives 
visited the country to hold cooperation talks. However, 
investment in the Libyan oil project, which may total between 
$1bn and $7bn, has yet to be approved by TNK-BP's new CEO. 
[oilandgaseuroasia.com, 10/21/2008] 
 
¶3. (U) WesternGeco Wins Libyan Seismic Deal: WesternGeco, part 
of oil field services giant Schlumberger, has won a contract 
from Russia's Gazprom to gather 3D seismic data on its Ghadames 
Basin acreage in Libya. WesternGeco says the survey will start 
in November, with data to be processed in its new processing 
center in Tripoli. Gazprom was awarded offshore Area 19 in the 
Libyan third oil and gas exploration licensing round last year. 
[MEED, 10/22/2008] 
 
¶4. (U) Fourth Forum and Exhibition of Oil and Gas Technologies: 
The forum and exhibition took place in Tripoli from October 20 
to 23. The event was sponsored by the NOC and organized by the 
Libyan Oil Institute. 120 international companies operating in 
the oil and gas industry from 20 countries as well as Libyan oil 
companies participated in the event. The exhibition aims to 
contribute to the communication between the parties of the oil 
and gas industry, and their counterparts in the international 
oil and gas industry, and to get an access to the latest 
techniques and methods in exploration, production, maintenance, 
marketing, and consuming. [noc.com.ly, 10/22/2008] 
 
¶5. (U) Foster Wheeler confirms Libyan Refinery Deal: The U.S. 
company Foster Wheeler has been awarded a project management and 
consultancy contract for the development of a $4 billion, 
200,000 barrel a day refinery in Zwara, western Libya. Foster 
Wheeler says the Zwara refinery is expected to be completed by 
2014; producing gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. The client is 
Zwara Oil Refining Company (Zorco), a project company in which 
Libya's state-run Tamoil Africa Holdings has the equity. Foster 
Wheeler says its contract includes the refinery configuration, 
the selection of the licensors and the front-end engineering and 
design (FEED) phase, including preparation of a cost estimate. 
The firm will also prepare the tender documents for the 
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phase, assist 
Zorco in selecting the EPC contractor and act as project 
management consultant during construction. The refinery, located 
near the Tunisian border, will boost the country's refinery 
capacity to nearly 600,000 barrels a day. [MEED, 10/30/2008] 
 
 
CONSTRUCTION 
 
¶6. (U) Al Maabar Plans $11.5 billion Investments: Abu 
Dhabi-based Al Maabar International Investments has lined up 
overseas investments worth $11.5 billion over 10 years. The 
investments will be in real estate projects in Morocco, Libya, 
Tunisia, Qatar, Belarus and Jordan. The projects in Libya and 
Morocco are to be immediately funded. The rest of the projects 
are long-term; they are now either under initial master plan or 
are going into detail design. [gulfnews.com, 10/5/2008] 
 
¶7. (U) Hill Signs $42 million Libya University Project: U.S. 
company Hill International has signed a $42 million contract to 
provide construction supervision services at a university 
expansion project in Tripoli. The 21-month contract from the 
Libyan Organization for the Development of Administrative 
Centers is part of a $2 billion expansion of Al Fateh 
University, Libya's largest institute of higher education. Under 
a 2007 agreement, Hill already provides project management 
services for the expansion, which will add 17.9 million square 
feet of space to 39 buildings. [njbiz.com, 10/12/2008] 
 
¶8. (U) Libyan Iron Steel Company Signed a Contract to Establish 
a New Factory for Iron Bars Industry: Libyan Iron Steel Company 
(LISCO) signed a contract to establish a new factory for iron 
bars with a production capacity of 800,000 tons a year and at a 
cost of $240 million. After completion of the project, the total 
production will reach 1.8 million tons against 500 tons a year 
in 2007. LISCO has signed contracts with specialized Italian 
companies to get this project executed. The project is expected 
to be finished in about 30 months. [MEsteel.com, 10/19/2008] 
 
¶9. (U) ESDF, Asamer Launch First Concrete Plant: Libyan Cement 
Manufacturing Joint Venture Company (JLCC), a joint venture 
between the Economic Social Development Fund (ESDF) and the 
Austrian Asamer Group Company, launched the first concrete plant 
in Tajura. The Tajura concrete plant is the company's second big 
project launched in Libya. The first one was the cement plant in 
Benghazi with a minimal capacity of three million tones of 
cement. [Tripoli Post, 10/19/2008] 
 
¶10. (U) Turkey's Floating Fair Carries Machinery and 
Construction Industry to North Africa: Floating Fair Bluexpo's 
journey included four important trade centers of North Africa; 
Alexandria in Egypt, Tripoli in Libya, Tunis in Tunisia, and 
Algiers in Algeria. About 3,500 sector professionals visited the 
fair located in two ferries; the exhibition involved 150 
businesspeople from Turkey who came to Libya under the umbrella 
of the Turkish Contractors Association. Bluexpo North Africa 
Construction project aims to provide business opportunities to 
Turkish companies supplying service and materials in 
infrastructure and building industries, which have an investment 
priority in the North African countries. [adg.com, 10/20/2008] 
 
 
REGIONAL ISSUES 
 
¶11. (U) More Cooperation in Electricity: Egypt and Libya agreed 
on boosting joint cooperation in electricity production. The 
agreement was reached at a meeting between Egypt's Holding 
Company for Electrifying Egypt and a visiting delegation of the 
Libyan electricity authority. The two sides reached an agreement 
on Libya's contribution in implementing a power generation plant 
in southern Giza area at a total capacity expected to reach 
1,300 megawatts. The plant will start operation in 2012. It was 
also agreed that Libya will contribute to other electricity 
projects in Egypt. [ANSAmed, 10/1/2008] 
 
¶12. (U) U.S. Opens Trade Office in Libya: on October 5, the 
American Commercial Service Office was opened in Tripoli to take 
part in promotion of the economic cooperation among the 
different Libyan and American institutions. Libyan officials and 
businessmen from both countries attended the office's opening. 
The American Assistant Secretary of Commerce underlined the 
importance of this office to strengthen economic and commercial 
ties between both countries, clarifying that the office is a 
good move to boost cooperation and bilateral commercial 
exchange. The Under Secretary of the General People's Committee 
for Economy, Trade and Investment said that this office will be 
a means to provide the institutions and companies with 
sufficient information about commercial and economic laws and 
legislations applied in both countries; provide the commercial 
information required by the American companies that have the 
desire to execute projects in Great Jamahiriya; and to provide 
the American investors with information about the Libyan markets 
and their needs. [ljbc.com, 10/7/2008] 
 
¶13. (U) Libya Maritime Exhibition and Conference: The Libya 
Maritime Exhibition and Conference (LIMEX 2008) was held at the 
naval base in Tripoli from October 13 to 15. It showcased the 
latest maritime technology by bringing together key industry, 
government and defense personnel from Libya and Overseas. [ljbc, 
10/16/2008] 
 
¶14. (U) Finance Ministers and Central Banks Governors to Discuss 
Global Financial Crisis on African Economy: The African 
Development Bank called on African Union finance ministers and 
governors of Central Banks to meet November 12, to discuss 
repercussions of the global financial crisis on African economy. 
The conference aims at taking a unified stance amongst African 
Union member states in confronting the global financial crisis, 
the bank said in a statement issued in Tunis. The statement also 
said the African Development Bank and the African Union 
Commission affirm that Africa's voice would be heard during 
discussions on the reform of the World Bank and the 
International Monetary Fund following the financial collapse of 
the capitalist system. [ljbc, 10/26/2008] 
 
 
IT 
 
¶15. (U) Libyans Take to the Mobile Web: BuzzCity, which provides 
global wireless communities and consumer services, has published 
the Global Mobile Advertising Index, which shows the growing use 
of the mobile Internet and the ensuing advertiser interest. 
BuzzCity reports continued growth in Indonesia, which remains in 
top position despite network irregularities, as well as 
significant growth in Kenya, USA and Bangladesh. BuzzCity also 
reports record growth for demand of its service in Libya, which 
it says will surprise both the global mobile community and 
digital advertising industries. Only six months ago Libya was in 
93rd position. BuzzCity says the growth is likely to be directly 
linked with changes in mobile operator business models, offering 
affordable and understandable mobile data packages. 
[mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk, 10/14/2008] 
 
 
INVESTMENT 
 
¶16. (U) Libyan Investment Projects Increase: Resources in the 
Board of Encouraging Investment mentioned that the size of 
investment increased from $200 million in 2003 to $2.157 billion 
in the first half of year 2008.  The increase is varied in the 
size of investment from one year to another and the year 2007 
recorded the highest development average.  It created ten 
thousand opportunities of jobs to the national elements.  The 
projects were increased by a value of $1.5 billion in comparison 
to $720 million in 2007. The number of investment projects that 
entered the operations in the first half of this year provided 
2,267 opportunities of employment for Libyans. 
[libyaninvestment.com, 10/22/2008] 
 
¶17. (U) Libya Eyes European, U.S. Equities: The Libyan 
Investment Authority is looking to invest $65 billion in 
European and U.S. equities to diversify its portfolio after 
recent market declines. "We want to diversify, number one in 
Europe, number two in the United States, and then in emerging 
market economies," said Farhat Bin Guidara, Governor of the 
Central Bank of Libya and a member of the board of the state's 
investment authority. "We are going more towards 
pharmaceuticals, telecoms, utilities and food manufacturing," he 
told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Cairo. 
[Reuters, 10/24/2008] 
 
 
BANKING 
 
¶18. (U) Libya Buys 4.23% Stake in UniCredit: The Central Bank of 
Libya, the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Foreign 
Bank acquired a combined 4.23% stake in Italian bank UniCredit 
SpA (UCG.MI). According to UniCredit's spokesman, the 
acquisition by Libyan interests is "friendly." The stake 
initially held by Libyan interests in the Italian bank was 
0.87%, the UniCredit spokesman said, with the rest being 
purchased over the last few days. UniCredit shares have had 
hardly any relief from selling and have lost 30% since the bank 
announced its funding plans on October 5. Italian Premier Silvio 
Berlusconi said he is concerned sovereign wealth funds from 
oil-producing countries could launch a hostile takeover for 
Italian companies, given their low valuations after the recent 
sharp fall in the stock markets. [libyaninvestment.com, 
10/19/2008] 
 
¶19. (U) Egypt's Naeem Wins Approval to Open in Libya: Naeem 
Holding, Egypt's second-largest publicly traded investment bank, 
said on Sunday it had won approval to open a representative 
office in Libya. The bank did not say when it would open the 
office in a statement on the stock exchange website. A company 
spokesman said he could not immediately give further details. 
Naeem, which operates in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab 
Emirates, said in May it planned to reduce the proportion of its 
revenue from Egypt to between 35 percent and 40 percent from 70 
percent within two years. [Reuters, 10/27/2008] 
 
 
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY 
 
¶20. (U) Zhongxing Auto to Export 5,000 Pick-ups to Libya: Hebei 
Zhongxing Automobile Co., Ltd., an expert of pick-up trucks and 
SUVs in North China, clinched an agreement with Libya on October 
20, 2008 on exporting 5,000 pick-ups. The Hebei-based carmaker 
exported 4,000 cars to the North African country in 2003 and 
those products used by government organs and social 
organizations won excellent public praise in the country for the 
company, laying a strong foundation for the big order this time. 
The order of 5,000 pick-ups accounts for 40%-50% of the market 
demand for 10,000-12,000 such cars in Libya this year. The 
company expects to sell 35,000 to 40,000 cars this year, with a 
yearly increase of 15% to 20%. [tmcnet.com, 10/23/2008] 
 
 
LABOR 
 
¶21. (U) Libya to Recruit Large Number of Bangladeshi Laborers: 
Libya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh 
to recruit a large number of workers as Tripoli launched a $130 
billion infrastructure development program that will require 
over one million foreign workers. The MoU was signed by the 
Bangladesh Foreign Adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and the 
Libyan Labor Minister Maa'touq Mohammed Maa'touq. Under the 
five-year development program, Libya will construct 300,000 
housing units, 27 university complexes, over 10,000 kilometer 
roads and maintain 24,000 kilometer roads. Presently, some 
25,000 Bangladeshi are employed in Libya. The Libyan minister 
did not give the exact number of Bangladeshi workers they will 
recruit but said they issued 6,000 visas for Bangladeshi workers 
last month. [thedailystar.com, 10/31/2008] 
 
 
STEVENSC