MEED reported that Tripoli has launched a USD 54.4 billion scheme to create 2 giant energy cities along the coast of the Gulf of Sirte, a plan it estimates will create 32,000 jobs over the next 15 years and attract billions of dollars of much needed foreign direct investment.
The state run Economic & Social Development Fund commissioned US engineering firm Fluor Corporation to develop a master plan for the scheme in July 2007. The fund approved the final version of the plan in July 2009 but has only now disclosed its contents.
Fluor’s master plan sets out a 15 year timetable for a total overhaul of the existing oil, gas and petrochemicals infrastructure at the industrial cities of Ras Lanuf and Marsa el Brega. It also sets out plans for the development of major power, refining, petrochemicals production and gas export facilities and an urban development to support a population increase of more than 118,500 and the creation of 31,958 jobs. Fluor has also laid out plans for a 5-star holiday resort at Al Egaila on the coast between Ras Lanuf and Marsa el Brega.
The ESDF, which owns stakes in all of Libya’s downstream oil and gas projects, wants to carry out the master plan in 3 five year phases starting in 2010 with work finishing in 2024.
Mr Said al-Hoderi a senior executive at Libya’s Economic Development Board said that “This will be the next big energy city project that people talk about.”
Mr Al-Hoderi said that the Economic Development Board is working on a series of economic reforms to attract foreign investors to the country. These include lower tax rates for the 2 energy cities.
He said that “They will not be free zones but special citiesi. They will have more leverage than traditional free zones. They will become dedicated cities for energy development and this is where the Economic Development Board can enter and find the best regulations and best policies to support these investments. Of course, we will have to have more incentives than those in the existing market.”
Mr Anwar Sassi project director on the scheme for the fund said that the fund plans to work in JV partnerships on the new industrial plants. The ESDF will decide how much its foreign partners receive from the developments on a case by case basis.
Tripoli has mooted a redevelopment of Ras Lanuf and Marsa el Brega since the 1980s, but US led trade embargoes against Libya introduced in 1986 crippled Tripoli’s plans. The US lifted the last trade embargoes in 2004.
One senior source at Fluor said that the ESDF is now keen to attract international investors who can offer the technology the country needs to develop its downstream industries. The developments at Ras Lanuf and Marsa el-Brega offer unique opportunities to foreign investors.
The source said that “Libya is virgin territory. It is coming out of a long embargo so there are great opportunities. The energy cities have these anchor investments but also provide for secondary industries, which take products from the heavy industries and produce plastics, for example. They also provide work for industrial and construction services. There is a much greater, wider and more open opportunity for investment, from oil and gas to secondary industry and services.”
(Sourced from MEED)
