By Barbara Lewis
LONDON (Reuters) - Libya hopes to hold a third international licensing round in the autumn, which will give a wide range of players fair access to the nation's untapped oil wealth, its top oil official said on Tuesday.
The third round had previously been expected to take place as early as this March.
It has been pushed back following a restructuring of the energy sector, which shut down the oil ministry and instead placed the head of the National Oil Company in charge.
"Hopefully it will take place some time in the autumn," Shokri Ghanem, head of the National Oil Company, told the Reuters Global Energy Summit.
"We want to digest the first two rounds," he said over a telephone link.
"We think they were very successful and good ... but there's always room for improvement."
Following the lifting of most U.S. sanctions, two international licensing rounds last year attracted a variety of companies.
The rounds were hailed for their transparency, although some analysts said aggressive bidding had left some accepting terms that could leave them struggling to make a profit. Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Paper | Aug 20 - 21, 2008 | Manufacturing |
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
