Wednesday - March 23, 2011

Libya: Whose Side Are We On???

The United States on Tuesday added 14 companies owned by Libya’s National Oil Corporation to its sanctions list, including the Benghazi-headquartered Arabian Gulf Oil Company which has broken away from NOC and allied itself with the rebels fighting the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi.

Agoco has been added to the US sanctions list despite the United Nations having recognized the rebels’ National Transitional Council, which late last week established a separate oil authority led by Agoco to oversee activities in areas under rebel control.

Before the current crisis, Agoco’s area of operations accounted for roughly 40% of Libyan output of around 1.6 million b/d. Agoco also operates an oil refinery and oil terminal at Tobruk.

Agoco has been offering Sarir crude directly to European buyers, market sources said earlier this week, although they added that these offers had been declined because of the complicated situation in Libya.

Um, is this Much Ado About Nothing? I’ve heard that the US doesn’t import any oil from Libya, as it’s the wrong kind for our distillation facilities. And to add insult to injury, even when combined with their natural gas production, Libya only manages to pump out about 2 million barrels a day during the best of times, which is enough to fill about ONE supertanker. ONE. Right now their production is at least 60% less than that.

Counter data: the previous link says we DO import oil from Libya. About 44,000 barrels worth per day. Which equates to 8 tankers full per YEAR, or 19 hours worth. The US consumes 10 tankers full per DAY (20 million bbls).

According to EIA January through November [2010] estimates, the United States imported an average of 71,000bbl/d from Libya in 2010 (of which, 44,000 bbl/d was crude)

So, while this sanction is kind of a stupid thing to do, the net impact on our market is going to be ((Jack_Shit * Diddly_Squat) ÷ Galactic_Infinity). Think of it as nothing more than another clear indicator of US foreign policy. Hey, maybe the US is actually against BOTH SIDES in Libya!! That ought to make us even more popular!!!!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/23/2011 at 04:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices • USA •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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