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U.S. warns Germany against oil deal with Libya

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, May 10, 2001

The United States has warned a German firm against signing an agreement to explore oil reserves in Libya.

The Bush administration has warned that Wintershall AG could be in violation of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which prevents investments of more than $20 million in Libya. Violations could result in a ban on all U.S. contact with Wintershall.

Wintershall has sought Libyan permission to drill in oil fields where U.S. companies had been operating until Washington imposed sanctions on Tripoli in 1986. The fields owned by a consortium of three U.S. companies are said to hold reserves of more than three billion barrels of oil and additional quantities of natural gas.

Libya has warned the consortium, consisting of Conoco, Amerada Hess and Marathon, that it would lose its assets unless the fields are developed. Several leading U.S. senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Jesse Helms, has raised the issue with German officials.

Thursday, May 10, 2001


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