By Catherine Jacobs, Vice President Partner Relations, The CWC Group.
Exclusive Interview with Tarek Hassan-Beck, Chairman of the Libya Summit Advisory Group.
The CWC Group is grateful for the Advisory Committee’s work and help in making the Libya Summit an industry leading event. Tarek Hassan-Beck (pictured) exclusively answered questions about the Summit and the future of oil, gas and sustainable development in Libya.
Q – How do you think that this Summit will benefit the Libyan Oil & Gas industry?
The main focus of this Summit will be to reflect a normal operational environment in Libya as well as to re-emphasize Libya’s potential, quantity and quality of crude and gas and geographic advantages.
Q - How do you feel the working committee’s involvement will help this summit and will benefit companies seeking to invest in the Libyan Oil & Gas industry?
The working committees give the message that the key stake holders are engaged in the process of preparing for this meeting in September. As well, the committee opens up direct communications with relevant government agencies, i.e. visa agencies and so processes will be easily accessible for attending delegates.
Q – International companies will be investing time, money and expertise into Libya. In which key areas of the Libyan Oil & Gas industry would you like to see this investment from the internationals?
It would be great to see investment in a few areas:
- Opening new doors to unconventional upstream plays and processes
- Downstream rejuvenation and growth i.e refineries are old and there is justification to build new ones
- Local content maximisation in all aspects of petroleum operations
Q - What do you hope to see/hear from the internationals attending the summit
Visibility of traditional partners like ENI, Wintershal, Repsol, Shell and Exxon as well as potential new comers. As well, showcase the road maps of putting operations back to normal pace as well as value added experience of new comers in the upstream.
Q - Which other models of local content, training and expertise growth do you wish to emulate? (e.g. other oil & Gas exporting nations with successful local content structure)
The Malaysian Petronas model is a good example because of their diversified operations. This model is very similar to the model which the NOC is working towards in terms of being Independent, ensuring cost effectiveness and promoting indigenous training processes.
Q - Which key factors in your view make Libya and the Libyan Oil & Gas industry a great place for internationals to invest in?
- Proximity to potential markets
- Quality of crude and gas
- Developed surface facilities – i.e 7 terminals
- Mature interaction between the industry and local governance – the industry is not foreign in Libya and we are familiar with oil and its standards
Q - What key message do you want to give to international companies thinking of attending the Libya Summit?
Traditional partners should lead the normalisation of the operational environment because they have the biggest role and responsibility given that they will be the partners for the next 25 years or so. New comers should realise that in the near future, more acreages will be part of competition as EPSA4 exploration period expires i.e huge chunks of the exploration ground will be put into the market.
Libya Summit: Oil, Gas, and Sustainable Growth. Tripoli, September 24-26.
