OIL group Total will be part of a mission of French companies heading to Libya next month to assess the situation, the head of the French-Libyan chamber of commerce said yesterday.
Total was among firms that during June and July visited the interim government’s stronghold in Benghazi to establish contacts with the National Transitional Council (NTC), with the backing of the French government.
“We’re not at the stage of signing contracts, but to understand how the NTC is managing this crisis and what urgent measures it needs to restart the oil machine that brings 95% of the country’s revenues so that it starts as quickly as possible,” the chamber’s president, Michel Casals, told reporters.
The mission will include regional experts from other companies, such as engineering firm Alstom, defence group EADS, defence and electronics firm Thales and telecoms equipment-maker Alcatel Lucent plus representatives of smaller firms that work with hospitals.
Total, among the companies most likely to benefit from a resumption of business in Libya after a six-month civil war, declined to comment on the mission. But it said it was monitoring the situation carefully to assess when its operations could restart in the country.