Oil’s return from turmoil

As Libyan rebel fighters began routing government forces and advancing on the capital city of Tripoli in August, international oil and gas companies with interests in Libya (including five European and five North American hydrocarbon multinationals) began aggressively vying for the resumption or possible expansion of their roles in the country. Italian oil firm, Eni, Libya’s most significant partner in hydrocarbons, said it expects a sub-Mediterranean gas pipeline between Libya and Italy to resume operations by mid-October. The company signed a memorandum with the National Transitional Council (NTC) — the rebels’ de facto government based in the eastern city of Benghazi — by which “Eni and NTC are committed to creating the conditions for a rapid and complete recovery of Eni’s activities in Libya and to doing all that is necessary to restart operations on the Greenstream pipeline, bringing gas from the Libyan coast to Italy”, the Italian company said