Libya's largest refinery, Ras Lanuf, which produces 220,000 barrels per day, is unlikely to restart for at least another month after a meeting between board members and shareholders, an official at the refinery operator Libyan Emirati Refining Co (Lerco) told Reuters.
Libya's largest refinery, Ras Lanuf, which produces 220,000 barrels per day, is unlikely to restart for at least another month after a meeting between board members and shareholders, an official at the refinery operator Libyan Emirati Refining Co (Lerco) told Reuters.
It is not clear whether the original contract will also become subject to scrutiny and review.
Lerco is a joint-venture between Libya's state oil company National Oil Corporation (NOC) and UAE-based Al Ghurair group.
A board meeting with the new chairman and director of the refinery, both NOC officials, is expected to take place in Tripoli around mid-May and the refinery could restart soon after, but it was difficult to be precise, the official told Reuters.
The company structure must be renegotiated, particularly with regard to crude supply and plans to double the refinery's capacity, the official said.
The report by Reuters did not say whether the restructuring process will also include a review of the original contract or whether it will be treated on the basis of the corrupt practices of the Gaddafi regime.
When Ras Lanuf was opened for foreign investment by the former regime and Al Ghurair acquired a major stake in it, it became one of the most controversial business decisions at the time.
Libyan economic experts and oil officials voiced their opposition to the way the whole venture was handled by Gaddafi officials.
The Ras Lanuf 'fiasco' as some like to call it has been viewed as an example of corrupt practices by the former regime whose oppressive governing did not gave room to the economic interest of the country or the views of national expertise on these matters.
Libyan Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak told Reuters last month that the Ras Lanuf refinery had been expected to restart at the end of March.
"The revised plan is not finalised yet but more or less I'm expecting that maybe they need some more time," he told Reuters then.
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