Libya going ahead with BP drilling deal

Libya will allow BP to move ahead with its offshore drilling plans next month despite the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the country's oil chief said today. Shokri Ghanem said the contract signed with BP in 2007, permitting the British oil giant to...

Libya will allow BP to move ahead with its offshore drilling plans next month despite the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the country's oil chief said today.

Shokri Ghanem said the contract signed with BP in 2007, permitting the British oil giant to begin drilling in the deepwater Mediterranean region in July, will be honoured.

His comments mark the latest confirmation by the North African nation that BP's operations in the country would not be affected by the explosion of, and subsequent leak, from the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast in April.

The incident has sharply raised concerns about offshore drilling as BP struggles to contain spill.

The project in Libya is BP's first in the Opec member in over 30 years.

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