$25b needed to boost crude output

Tripoli: Libya's oil industry will need at least $25 billion (Dh91.8 billion) in investment to increase its oil production to two million barrels a day, said the chairman of drilling-rig operator Challenger Ltd.

"Fields need to be developed, others redeveloped," Hassan Tatanaki said in a telephone interview on Friday. "The Libyan oil industry needs a lot of revamping. We have to reinvest to be able to get the proper cost effective amount into the industry in terms of the country's production level."

The armed conflict in Libya, holder of Africa's largest proven reserves, has reduced the nation's output to 100,000 barrels a day in July from the 1.6 million barrels pumped before the uprising started in February. A full recovery of production may take as long as three years, according to analysts' estimates. read more

Venture Capital Bank Acquires Stake in Major Oil Drilling Company

ANAMA, Bahrain, November 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture Capital Bank (VC Bank), a Bahrain-based investment bank, along with its partner, the US private equity firm Global Emerging markets (GEM), have acquired a significant stake in the MENA-based oil drilling contractor Challenger Limited. Established in 1991, Challenger currently owns and operates a fleet of 22 rigs in Libya providing drilling and work-over services of oil, gas and water wells, with offices in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE. The acquisition was co-funded by VC Bank and its strategic technical partner GEM illustrating VCBank's non-conventional pursuit to attract North American and European funds and sources of capital to investment opportunities in the MENA region. This significant transaction was completed by a team from VC Bank and GEM, not only strengthening the successful partnership between the two firms, but demonstrating that the region hosts many attractive, yet obscured, investment opportunities represented in privately held companies such as Challenger that operates mainly in Libya. read more

Exclusive- Another Libyan Club Chases Kotoko Striker Seidu Bancey

By Saddick Adams

Ghana league top scorer Asante Kotoko could be on his way out the club at the end of the season after top Libyan outfit Al Ahli SC of Benghazi offered a mouth-watering offer for the hitman, Ghanasportsonline.com can exclusively reveal.

The striker's contract, Ghanasportsonline.com understands has a year left and the Asante Kotoko chiefs are quietly confident of him signing a new deal but the offer will obviously deril their plans.
Bancey has been watched by the Benghazi-based side for months and they lodged a fresh inquiry this week, according to reports.

Al Ahli Benghazi, owned by Libyan Billionaire business mogul and philantrophist Hassan Tatanaki have made the ex Edubiase marksaman their first-choice target to strengthen their attack at the resumption of the Libyan league. read more

Libya Awalan TV joins CNN’s global affiliate network

NN International has announced that Libya Awalan TV (which translates as ‘Libya First’) is to join its global network of affiliates. The partnership is the first with a private network in Libya and adds to CNN’s global presence, as well as its strength in North Africa.

Libya Awalan TV was founded in March 2011, shortly after the conflict in Libya began, and made its inaugural broadcast a few weeks later on 1 April. It employs more than 200 people and has control rooms in Tripoli and Benghazi, as well as in Cairo. During the Libya conflict, Awalan’s reporters brought detailed reports from across the country, and the station continues to report on Libya’s ongoing recovery in five daily news bulletins and across breaking news.

Deborah Rayner, VP and managing editor at CNN International, said: “Libya Awalan’s bravery and commitment to independent journalism during the conflict in Libya was an example to any news network, and their ongoing commitment to serious reporting is there for all to see. They will be valuable partners to CNN International and we’re delighted to be welcoming them to our affiliate family.” read more

Challenger Limited announces the closing of a major international partnership deal

Challenger Limited, a prominent provider of contract oil, gas and water land drilling and work-over services, has over 15 years experience in providing services to major and independent oil and gas companies. Over that period of time, Challenger Limited has been operating in; Libya, Egypt, Tanzania, Gabon, and the Republic of Niger. The company has a strong client base, including nearly all state-owned and major oil companies in Libya, as well as International players such as Agip/Eni, Total, Marathon, IPL, Veba and Verenex Energy.

Mr. Hassan Tatanaki, Chairman of Challenger Limited, declared that " In view of the vast opportunities of high growth in the MENA region, we along with our partners have decided to go into partnership with one of the best-regarded companies in the oil drilling industry; namely Bronco Drilling Company. This partnership will energize and undoubtedly increase our capacity to expand Challenger activities in both scope and scale. This was based on our full confidence and faith in the investment model and general direction". Mr. Tatanaki said that "This transaction shows that the growing cooperation amongst Libya, the U.S., and the Middle East, is creating an attractive investment environment for U.S. and International companies".  continue reading

Libya Awalan TV joins CNN’s global affiliate network

CNN International has announced that Libya Awalan TV (which translates as ‘Libya First’) is to join its global network of affiliates. The partnership is the first with a private network in Libya and adds to CNN’s global presence, as well as its strength in North Africa.

Libya Awalan TV was founded in March 2011, shortly after the conflict in Libya began, and made its inaugural broadcast a few weeks later on 1 April. It employs more than 200 people and has control rooms in Tripoli and Benghazi, as well as in Cairo. During the Libya conflict, Awalan’s reporters brought detailed reports from across the country, and the station continues to report on Libya’s ongoing recovery in five daily news bulletins and across breaking news.

Deborah Rayner, VP and managing editor at CNN International, said: “Libya Awalan’s bravery and commitment to independent journalism during the conflict in Libya was an example to any news network, and their ongoing commitment to serious reporting is there for all to see. They will be valuable partners to CNN International and we’re delighted to be welcoming them to our affiliate family.”
Hassan Tatanaki, founder and chairman of Libya Awalan TV, added: “CNN is the original 24-hour news channel and a network that continues to set the standard in global news. It has a long-standing presence in and passion for our region, so to become part of its affiliate network is a proud moment for us as a young channel. We hope we can make a strong contribution to CNN’s reporting in a new and free Libya and beyond.”

Libya Awalan has recently covered a range of stories in Libya, from tribal clashes in the deserts of Kufra, to illegal immigration, student demonstrations in Benghazi, and the children returning to school in Zawiya. It regularly interviews Transitional National Council ministers and officials from the transitional government. Its programming includes news, political, social, and health reports, as well as sports coverage. 

Source: Hassan Tatanaki's Blog

Al-Azhar plans satellite television channel about Islam

Dressed in his robe and turban, Sheikh Khaled Al-Guindy sits in the plush offices of the main benefactor of his new satellite television channel and speaks about how modern technology can be turned to service for Islam. The al-Azhar scholar, who in 2000 launched a phone-in service for Muslims seeking religious guidance, is one of the founders of Azhari, a 24-hour channel due to launch on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year will start in mid-August.

The channel will be broadcast on both main satellite channels operating in Egypt and will be accessible worldwide. It will initially transmit in Arabic with some English and French programming and there are plans to add content later in Urdu and Turkish. Azhari received its initial 15 million Egyptian pounds funding from a Libyan businessman and philathropist, Hassan Tatanaki.
Guindy told Reuters the plan really got going about a month ago, when he officiated at the wedding of Tatanaki’s daughter. “The father of the bride and I forgot completely about that wedding and started to talk about a new wedding, about how to introduce this new channel to the rest of the world,” he said.


Guindy is hopeful that a new age, which he dubs the Age of Obama, is dawning in which a dialogue between Islam and the West will flourish. And he hopes his channel will play an important role in that conversation. Yet for all his modern touches, Guindy retains a deeply traditional side. He preferred to conduct our interview not in English or everyday modern Arabic, but in precise classical Arabic.

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Libya militia clashes spread beyond Tripoli towards Zawiya oil port

Libya militia clashes spread beyond Tripoli towards Zawiya oil port

By Aziz El Yaakoubi

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Clashes in Libya spread from Tripoli to the western town of Zawiya near Tunisia's border, where a large oil port is located, killing four people over the last two days, local town council officials said on Thursday.

Foreign governments have mostly closed their embassies and evacuated staff after three weeks of clashes turned Libya's two main cities - Tripoli and Benghazi - into warzones in the worst fighting since the NATO-backed war against Muammar Gaddafi.

Three years after Gaddafi's fall, Libya's government has been unable to tame rival brigades of former rebel fighters who have allied themselves with competing political factions in a struggle over post-war spoils.

The fighting in Zawiya is part of a broader struggle between two loose confederations of former rebels and their political allies whose rivalries have exploded into street battles that have killed more than 200 people in the past three weeks.

Brigades allied to town of Zintan - based in the city some 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Tripoli - and their anti-Islamist Qaaqaa and Al-Sawaiq units are battling Islamist-leaning Libya Shield brigades loyal to the central, coastal town of Misrata who say they are fighting former Gaddafi allies. read more

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