US oil companies for Libya
2003-12-26 16:02
Cairo - US oil companies are poised to return to Libya after the Libyan government renounced weapons of mass destruction.
Libya's decision, announced on December 19 after nine months of secret talks with the United States and Britain, should, says US President George W Bush, start the country's "process of rejoining the community of nations."
"One of the first consequences is that the US oil companies could go back now," said Manouchehr Takin, an expert with the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES).
The government of Libyan leader Colonel Moamer al-Kadhafi, in power since 1969, nationalised oil distribution in 1970 and production in 1973.
In 1982, Washington declared an embargo on Libyan crude oil imports.
Libya, a member of the 11-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), produces 1.4 million barrels per day of crude, compared with global output of 78 million.
- AFP