http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=7368
I stumbled on this today. It covers a lot of ground about the NTC and the state of the oil business.
It doesn’t have an obvious propaganda agenda, unlike the BBC, Aljazeerah and the British newspapers.
The most significant thing it contains is some conversations with the NTC minister of Oil AND Finance – who is an ex-pat that hasn’t lived in Libya in 40 years (basically since Qaddafi took power). He speaks flawless English. I wonder if he lived in the DC area for those 40 years.
The main theme of the piece is looking at who is going to participate in the Libyan oil business, how much will NATO gain from its role, and whether Libyan nationalism and distrust of European will eventually derail those plans.
There are some errors in the video… one is the assertion that NATO wouldn’t get involved in Syria because Syria has no oil. That’s not true.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c9d67952-e823-11e0-9fc7-00144feab49a.html
Syria is not a major exporter of oil, but that’s largely because oil companies have been timid about getting involved with them.
Syria has an antiquated refinery that was built in 1959:
http://www.homsrefinery.com/englesh/index.htm
That problem is being addressed by China building them a new oil refinery
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3527387,00.html
Just saw on BBCNews main page this headline:
“Worries grow for Libyan civilians
Western officials express growing fears for tens of thousands of civilians caught in fierce fighting in Libya’s remaining pro-Gaddafi strongholds.”
…which in newspeak means prepare for another ‘diplomatic’ and media barrage calling for more bombing by NATO in order to ‘save lives’.
About a week ago, NATO voted to extend their (our) military involvement for another 90 days. Total Victory is right around the corner.
Ghadaffi’s followers are not stupid. They’ll play along until the time is right and stay low profile for now.
There was a piece I read yesterday on how the Oil is starting to pump again, and how wonderful things will be returning to normal.
The oil fields that feed Tubruq’s small refinery – it’s well behind the frontier and relatively close to the Mediterranean and probably not damaged at all – but it is small and not very productive – as it is an old field. There is no way the NTC has the security forces to protect pipelines and oil wells 400 miles into the Sahara Desert…. and there is also still the issue of bringing the Man Made River back online for fresh water supplies.
The NTC is optimistic that the oil fields will be put back online soon. But they also don’t want outside security forces protecting things, and the oil companies are not willing to send in people without protection.
These are the same folks who were sure Qaddaffi would be dead or gone from the country “in a week, 10 days max” back in June. In the big scheme of things, Muammar isn’t even “the end”. He still has a number of sons alive, that his followers might be even more happy about following.