Libya’s biggest oil port may open in August, rebels say

Libya’s largest oil-export terminal, the port of Es Sider, may re-open in August after the North African nation’s new parliament takes office, said a spokesman of the rebel group that shut the facility almost a year ago.

“It’s possible to solve all issues and get to an agreement to re-open Es Sider and Ras Lanuf when the new parliament starts working, God willing, after Ramadan,” Ali Al-Hassy, a spokesman of the Executive Office for Barqa, said by phone from eastern Libya.

Ras Lanuf is the second of two ports still under control of the Barqa rebels. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan started today, June 29, in Libya and will finish with the Eid El Fitr holiday at the end of July.

The rebels’ Executive Office for Barqa seeks self-rule for the region known also as Cyrenaica. It occupied oil ports in eastern Libya at the end of last July, demanding an oil-revenue sharing agreement to make up for the neglect the area experienced under Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule.

Libya, with Africa’s largest oil reserves, is now producing about 300,000 bpd, or a fifth of its output before Qaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The loss of the country’s oil production has boosted the price of Brent, a benchmark for half the world’s traded crude.

Deal

Under an agreement reached on April 6, the Barqa federalists handed over control of Zueitina and Hariga, two of the four oil ports they seized a year ago. In return, they received an amnesty and the payment of salaries for defectors from Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard who joined the rebels.

The accord calls for a second round of talks aiming at a comprehensive deal that would allow the re-opening of the two remaining ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.

The Barqa federalists last month threatened to cancel the April agreement in protest over the appointment as prime minister of Ahmed Maiteg, whom they see as allied with the nation’s Islamists. His appointment was later withdrawn, and elections were held last week for a new parliament.

Danske Bank on June 19 raised its third-quarter forecast for Brent crude to $107 a barrel, from $104, on the turmoil in Iraq and the protests at oil sites in Libya. “We expect the oil price to stay in the $108-114 a barrel range over coming months, as it will take some definitive progress in Iran and Libya for the oil price to break below this range,” it said.

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Oil falls as Libyan supply seen rising, Iraq output remains safe

West Texas Intermediate fell for a sixth day, the longest losing streak since May 2012, while Brent slid amid speculation that crude supplies will increase after Libyan rebels agreed to hand over two export terminals.

Futures dropped as much as 0.5% in New York. Libya is reopening the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf facilities after reaching an agreement yesterday, July 2, with a group that blockaded ports in the country’s east in the past year, said Ahmed al-Amin, a government spokesman. Fighting in Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, still hasn’t spread to the south, home to more than three-quarters of its crude output.

“Libya will just add more supply, and the world is awash with oil,” Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said by phone. “There’s nothing new from Iraq and investors are starting to realize that there’s not going to be a major affect in terms of supply.”

WTI for August delivery declined as much as 53 cents to $103.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $104.11 at 2:38 p.m. Sydney time. The contract fell 86 cents to $104.48 yesterday, the lowest close since June 11. The volume of all futures traded was about 5% above the 100-day average. Prices have gained 5.8% this year.

Libyan Supply

Brent for August settlement dropped as much as 52 cents, or 0.5%, to $110.72 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.95 to WTI. The spread narrowed for a third day yesterday to close at $6.76.

Libya’s biggest and third-largest oil ports were handed over in a gesture of support for the newly elected parliament, according to a spokesman for the group that calls itself the Executive Office for Barqa. Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which can handle a combined 560,000 bpd of crude, may boost Libya’s export capacity almost five-fold.

The rebels, who are seeking self-rule for a region known as Cyrenaica, occupied the facilities in July last year, demanding to share oil revenues to make up for neglect experienced under Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, holds Africa’s biggest reserves.

U.S. Stockpiles

In Iraq, oil production has mostly been unaffected by an Islamist insurgency in the north. The country will ship 2.8 MMbpd this month, close to a record high, loading programs obtained by Bloomberg show.

Crude inventories in the U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer, shrank by 3.2 MMbbl to 384.9 million in the week ended June 27, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday. Supplies were projected to decrease by 2.4 million, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 analysts.

Gasoline stockpiles slid by 1.24 MMbbl, the first drop in five weeks, said the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Distillate fuels, including heating oil and diesel, climbed by 975,000 bbl to 121.5 million, the highest level since Jan. 10.

WTI’s decline may stall as it approaches technical support, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Futures are trading along an upward-sloping trend line extending from the intraday lows of May 1 and June 5, at about $104 a barrel today. Buy orders tend to be clustered along chart-support levels.

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Libyan rebels say two oil ports reopened after yearlong blockade

Rebels who helped decimate Libyan oil production by blockading eastern ports said the nation’s largest and third-largest export facilities can ship crude again, in a gesture of support for the newly elected parliament.

Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which have combined capacity of 560,000 bpd, will reopen today, July 2, according to Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman for the rebels’ Executive Office for Barqa. Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp. hasn’t been informed of the move, said Mohamed Elharari, company spokesman. The two terminals would increase Libya’s crude-export capacity almost five-fold.

The loss of Libya’s oil production boosted the price of Brent, a benchmark for half the world’s traded crude. Brent futures for August settlement fell as much as 0.7% to $111.54 a barrel today, the lowest intraday level in almost three weeks. The restart of operations at the two ports would probably send Brent down to $110 a barrel, Commerzbank AG said.

“The Petroleum Facilities Guards in Es Sider and Ras Lanuf have been instructed to allow the two ports to resume operations,” Al-Hasy said by phone from eastern Libya. “This is an initiative from the Executive Office for Barqa to welcome the newly elected parliament that includes well-known patriots, and to encourage them to fight corruption and protect the natural resources of the nation.”

The self-declared Executive Office for Barqa seeks self-rule for the eastern region of Libya known also as Cyrenaica. It occupied oil ports in the region at the end of July 2013, demanding an oil-revenue-sharing agreement to make up for the neglect the area experienced under Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule.

Brent Falls

Libya is now producing about 320,000 bpd, or about a fifth of its output before Qaddafi was overthrown in 2011, according to state-run National Oil Corp. “We will lift the state of force majeure in Es Sider and Ras Lanuf when we receive confirmation of this agreement from the government,” said Elharari. Force majeure is a legal step that protects a company from liability when it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.

The premium of the front-month Brent contract over the second month, a structure called backwardation that signals tight near-term supplies, narrowed to as little as 7 cents a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London today, the least since April 15. Brent’s premium to U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate narrowed as much as 41 cents to $6.54 a barrel on ICE.

Government representatives including Justice Minister Salah al-Mirghani and a delegation of the Barqa federalists sealed the agreement yesterday in the eastern city of Tobruk, Al-Hasy said. “The facilities in Es Sider and Ras Lanuf are in very good shape, they are ready to operate.”

‘Ready to Operate’

Es Sider has 340,000 bbl in daily loading capacity and Ras Lanuf 220,000 bbl, according to the oil ministry. The nation has a total of nine oil export terminals, of which three - Brega, Jurf and Bouri - are operating with a combined daily loading capacity of 145,000 bbl.

While the other terminals - Zawiya, Mellitah, Hariga and Zueitina - are under government control, they are not exporting because of protests at the ports or connected oilfields unrelated to those of the Barqa federalists.

The government has agreed to pay “in the next few days” the salaries of Petroleum Facilities Guard who defected to the Barqa group during the blockade and to implement a preliminary agreement reached on April 6, Al-Hasy said. The rebels handed over the oil ports of Hariga and Zueitina after this accord in exchange for amnesty and salary payments for the guards, and an audit of the National Oil Corp.’s oil sales since the overthrow of Qaddafi.

The Barqa federalists in May threatened to re-occupy Hariga and Zueitina in protest over the appointment as prime minister of Ahmed Maiteg, whom they see as allied with the nation’s Islamists. His appointment was later withdrawn, and elections were held last week for a new parliament.

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Tellus Resources acquires interest in Block 3114 in Madagascar in deal with Caravel Energy

Tellus Resources reported that it has agreed to acquire a 25% interest (with the right to acquire up to an 80% interest) in a drill ready and large scale oil exploration asset, located onshore on the Island of Madagascar, off the south-east coast of Africa.

The vendor of the asset is Caravel Energy. The terms of the transaction are summarised below.
 
The Asset, which comprises approximately 10,000 sq km of onshore acreage, has recently been the subject of a seismic campaign which has identified large scale oil targets together with at least one drill ready prospect. As such, a drilling campaign is planned to commence in the latter part of the year. The acreage the subject of the acquisition has recently been the subject of a seismic campaign which has identified large scale oil targets.As such, a drilling campaign is planned to commence in the latter part of this year.

Under the Sale Agreement the Company has agreed to acquire:
 
CRJ’s 25% shareholding interest in PetroMad being the company which owns a 100% interest in the Bezaha Oil Project concession located in Southern Madagascar – the Asset ; and all of CRJ’s rights and obligations under an agreement entered into with the owner of the remaining 75% interest in PetroMad and under which CRJ is entitled, subject to successful completion of staged work programs, to earn up to an 80% ownership interest in PetroMad.

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ConocoPhillips partner FAR starts effort to sell Kenya stake

FAR Ltd., exploring off Senegal with ConocoPhillips and Cairn Energy Plc, is looking for a partner in Kenya as drilling picks up in the region.

FAR started a process in London last week and Australia this week giving companies access to its data, Managing Director Cath Norman said today, June 13, in a phone interview from Melbourne. The explorer may reduce its stake in one block in Kenya to as little as 25% from 60% and complete a deal by the end of the third quarter at the earliest, she said.

“There’s a fair bit of interest offshore Kenya at the moment,” she said. “In Kenya, the prize is oil.”

Drilling

The Australian company is moving ahead with plans in Kenya, Senegal and Guinea Bissau as explorers including Woodside Petroleum Ltd. look at Africa. The industry is watching the Senegal drilling closely after disappointing exploration results in Africa in recent months, Norman said.

“Most of the junior end of the market has not actually come up with the goods,” she said. “With a little bit of success we’d have more interest flooding back into the sector.”

FAR rose 5.4% today to 3.9 cents in Sydney trading, valuing the company at A$105 million ($99 million).

In Senegal, FAR expects drilling to resume in about two weeks after a delay caused by rig maintenance and to complete the well in about a month, according to Norman.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.