LONDON Ñ Libya has awarded a $230 million project to construct a
huge oil and natural gas pipelines.
The award was relayed to the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.
for the construction of two pipelines that can transport oil and gas to link
energy fields in the south to a facility near the capital Tripoli. In all,
the pipelines would extend 520 kilometers.
Industry sources said the energy contract is the first for China awarded
by Libya since the lifting of United Nations trade sanctions in 1999. The
Chinese company also has contracts in neighboring Sudan, where it owns a 40
percent stake in a consortium that is exploring and developing oil in the
war-torn south.
CNPC plans to begin construction of the Libyan pipeline in November and
begin operating the facility two years later. The company is also bidding to
build oil facilities in Algeria.
