Libyan ambassador says BP gave very strong guarantees
Video: Mark Zammit Cordina
Libya’s new ambassador to Malta has said his country is taking “every precaution” to make sure the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will not be repeated in the Mediterranean when British company BP starts drilling off the Libyan coast.
“We are just as concerned as Malta and everyone else, especially in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico incident, but Libya is taking every precaution not to have such an incident repeated,” the newly-appointed ambassador Saadun Ismail Suayeh told The Times yesterday soon after presenting his credentials to President George Abela at the Palace in Valletta.
This is the first such declaration by a high ranking Libyan official in Malta on the concerns over the deep-sea oil drilling license granted to BP by Libya. The British oil giant is expected to start operations in the Gulf of Sirte, just 515 kilometres away from Malta, anytime soon.
Dr Suayeh said BP had given Libya “very strong guarantees” that they will adopt the highest and strictest industrial practices.
“Libya is exercising a sovereign right by exploring for oil in its own territorial waters but it is doing this very responsibly. We are aware the consequences will be very serious if, God forbid, any incident occurs,” Dr Suayeh said.
Concerns about BP’s Libya operation were raised after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by the British company exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April killing 11 people.
Millions of barrels of oil spilled from the damaged well for three whole months in what was described as the worst oil spill disaster in the US. The oil well was finally capped in July.
Dr Suayeh said he was aware of the concerns raised in Malta about BP’s operations off the Libyan coast but insisted these were also Libya’s concerns.
Whenever asked whether it sought guarantees from Libya on the safety standards to be adopted by BP, the government has played down the concerns, insisting safety procedures were the Libyan government’s responsibility.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat raised the matter with Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, when paying him a courtesy visit last week.
Dr Muscat said the Libyan authorities gave him the necessary clarifications, assuring him that the strictest safety precautions in the industry would be taken.
Describing the relations between both countries as “excellent and strong”, Dr Suayeh said no date had been fixed yet for President Gaddafi to visit Malta.
However, the visit was still on the cards, he added, and hoped it would take place “as soon as possible”.
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J Brincat
Aug 14th 2010, 08:15
So we can sleep safely at night because BP and Libyan ambassador are giving their guarantee. And this after one of the gravest disaster ever!
Well on my part I need much more convincing.
Joe Muscat
Aug 13th 2010, 13:51
Meta jkollna Gvern f'Malta li kapaci jinegozzja u jgib deal tajbin ghal-Malta, daqs kemm hi kapaci L-NOC fil- Libya, li ghanda l-ahjar deal fl-Afrika kollha, forsi ninqalghu mill- awc li qeghdin fih.
Ma nafx ghalfejn dal-hastle kollu fuq il- BP!!?? Dan l-incident seta gara il-kulhadd, u bhall ma gara lil-BP jista jigri il- Malta kieku xi darba nsibu z-zejt. Ma nafx ghalfejn dan l-ghageb kollhu!
Il- Libya kullhadd imaqdara u kulhadd jiprova jiltaqa ma Gaddaffi, ha jakwistaw xi haga, il-PN ma gab xejn sa issa, ara l-Italja, Franza, Russja, UK, Spanja, Zwitzerland kollha jahdmu u jgibu ix-xoghol. Meta mar Gonzi lanqas bis ikalkulawh. Ara jigiex xi hadd jghid li is-sucessi tal- kumpaniji Maltin fil- Libya qed jigru bis-sahha tal- gvern jew l-ambaxata li qeda hemm biex torganizza xi lejla Maltija!
B Ciangura
Aug 13th 2010, 11:35
I wonder, where are Green Peace and Sea Shepherd activists when it comes to protect our seas from the oil barons? God only knows how many species were destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico, which incidentally is a spawning ground for many species of fish. I did not see that many protests. They haress and attack tuna vessels because they are harming the eco-system and yet they keep comparitively silent on an oil disaster of that magnitude. Surely an oil spill like that harmed biodiversity a lot more than tuna fishing does. Now they are completely silent about drilling in the Mediterranean, which, should a disaster occur, would be even worse than the gulf of Mexico. Then again, oil drilling does not benefit the Maltese economy directly, it benefits major economies like the UK, USA, etc. Incidentally, countries which supply these so called eco-warriors with money and activists. Two weights two measures?
a.dalli
Aug 13th 2010, 11:09
Congratulations and hope that you work to strenghten relations between the two countries - including the rilling for oil.
Joe Borg
Aug 13th 2010, 10:29
as for the video clip: the ambassador stated that Libya has a sovereign right to drill.
Libya's claim that the Gulf of Sirte is an internal sea is hotly contested by many countries. Whereas Maltese politicians make no comment on the Libyan claim, Libya continues to challenge our sovereign right to drill on the Medina Bank.
Where are our politicians who like to boast about their love of this country? why is Malta not taking a serious stance as libya has done since 1973 in the case of Sirte and later in the case of our Medina bank.
Dr Borg should know where his bread is buttered, although recent history shows his enthusiastism to give off for free Malta's search and rescue area to Italy, before colleagues in parliament realised the blunder!
Joe Borg
Aug 13th 2010, 09:44
Libya is exercising a sovereign right by exploring for oil in its own territorial waters :
I wonder when Malta will start exercising its sovereign right to explore in its own continental shelf? namely the Medina Bank, which is in water that is only 200 m deep compared to the over 1000m deep water wells that BP will drill in offshore Libya.
As Libya and Italy get closer to Malta with their drilling programs, Maltese politicians seem to be more interested in proctecting the rights of foreign countries rather than the right of Malta for a share in oil prospecting.
The colonial mentality of serving foreigners seems to be the mindset of Maltese politicians. No wonder that they have made Gaddafi's tent their second home!
Anthony borg
Aug 13th 2010, 09:42
No guarantee will avoid a repeat of what happened in the Gulf of Mexico in April. We have to live with this as other people try to live normally with Nuclear Reactors in their countries. It's the price we pay for our "modern" advancements. One thing is sure: accidents will happen, no matter how strong and tight the guarantee - that's why they are called "accidents".
Franco Farrugia
Aug 13th 2010, 09:35
What guarantees can BP give which it has not given to the USA?
If there is even the slightest accident in the Mediterranean, we, the Maltese, will be the first to know about it!
M Vella
Aug 13th 2010, 09:30
Lets start drilling for oil ourselves.
gcForte
Aug 13th 2010, 09:49
M Vella..............What oil ? Don`t you know that in Malta these is no oil ? You can ask Dr. Lawrence Gonzi himself when he comes from his holiday. It was him that made a serous declaration that in Malta there is no oil, in front thousands of people at the " fosos tal Furjana ". and everybody clapped his hands as approval of what he said.
gcForte
Aug 13th 2010, 10:25
@ Sorry ...It was Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami and not Dr.Gonzi, who said that declaration. Sorry Dr. Gonzi, keep having a nice time with your family, you really deserve it.
M.Bezzina
Aug 13th 2010, 11:50
Iwa mawx zejt aw Malta.....f wicc in nies qijed iz zejt awwekk!!!Nahseb ta xejn kulhadd sejjer il Libja jitkellem ma Gaddaffi!!
Anthony Mizzi
Aug 13th 2010, 11:56
.....yes no oil before the election and Dr. EFA kept digging after...... : )