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The EUs foreign policy chief has defended a deal to finance migrants camps in Libya.

Leaders agreed to send some 200 million euros to the Libyan government during a summit in Malta last week as part of strategy to to stem immigration from Africa.

When the UNHCR manages to operate in a centre and then identifies someone as someone in needs and having the right to international protection, said Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief.

The UNHCR starts a resettlement program and those persons are resettled being it in Europe, being it in Canada or in the US, that I dont know or elsewhere in the world.

The EU wants to help Libyas coast guard to stop migrants leaving in the first place. Leaders also pledged to help with protecting its southern border.

But Libya has been ravaged by conflict since the fall of Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.

The UN-backed government doesnt control all of the country; theres a rival administration in the east. And the so-Called Islamic State also operates there.

Original post:
EU defends Libya deal - euronews

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- Two B-2 Spirit bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri for a transatlantic flight to Libya on Jan. 18 in what would become the B-2s first combat mission since Operation Odyssey Dawn in 2011.

The demanding 30-plus-hour mission against two Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant camps required personnel with advanced expertise in the B-2s capabilities. It also required a firm grasp of total force integration. In essence, it required graduates of the 57th Wings U.S. Air Force Weapons School.

There was a deliberate effort to fill all of the (B-2 strike) seats with weapons officers because of the niche skill set we train to on our (special operations force integration) ride, said Col. Michael Drowley, the weapons school commandant.

The success of the B-2 strike demonstrated the total force integration training inherent in a weapons school education. This training made B-2 graduates of the 325th Weapons Squadron the natural go-to experts for the North Africa mission.

(It is) a testament to the awesome job the 325th instructor corps does to prepare graduates to lead in combat, Drowley said.

The weapons schools 26 weapons instructor courses employ a building-block approach to produce weapons officers who are not only doctorate-level experts in a platform or specialty, but also trailblazers in total force and joint integration planning and execution.

The final month of each class consists of the weapons school integration phase, a series of complex missions enacted in a highly contested operational environment.

The immediate applicability of WSINT to a real-world situation was highlighted during the B-2 strike.

Prior to the Libya mission, the most recent sortie flown by Capt. Nathan Mueller, the 13th Bomb Squadron B-2 flight lead, was the WSINT offensive counter-air mission he flew in December as a student.

It was a very humbling experience when my squadron commander told me that I would be flight lead for what would become the B-2's participation in Operation Odyssey Lightning, Mueller said. The dynamic targeting and inherent integration that took place en route to Libya is not something that B-2 pilots train for on a regular basis. It was, however, very much a part of the weapons school syllabus, particularly during WSINT.

The weapons school instructors do not often have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the WSINT training so quickly.

We're obviously extremely proud of the work our graduates did in combat, said Lt. Col. Daniel Hoadley, the 325th WPS commander. It's especially gratifying to see one of our graduates lead this mission on his first B-2 sortie after weapons school. I would equate it to practicing football plays with your kid in the back yard for six months and then watching them score the winning touchdown on their first game!

The true value of any integration training, however, lies in its ability to forge weapons officers who can lead and work with diverse forces.

During the strike in Libya, for example, the B-2 personnel collaborated with multiple KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender and MQ-9 Reaper crews to achieve the mission. The 325th WPS reflected the weapons schools humble, approachable, credible motto when discussing the strike.

We recognize we are a very small piece of the big team that led to success on this mission, Hoadley said.

The weapons school plans to multiply the value of its integration training, from 2017 forward, with more syllabus opportunities earlier in the class and joint partnerships.

This expansion will ensure weapons school graduates continue to provide top-notch leadership to any mission they are called to do.

I lost count of the number of times we did something in our formation because of a lesson learned during weapons school, Mueller said. I can't think of any higher praise for a program than when combat feels like the training scenarios.

Read the original post:
USAFWS officers employ total force training during Libya B-2 strike ... - Air Force Link

Commodities giant Glencore has extended its deal with Libyas National Oil Corporation (NOC) to be the exclusive trader of around 230,000 bpd of Libyas current crude oil production of around 700,000 bpd, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the deal.

According to the extended deal whose period was not immediately known Glencore is entitled to be the sole trader of some 230,000 bpd from the oil fields Sarir and Mesla, Reuters sources say.

The agreement gives Glencore advantage over commodity trading rivals Vitol and Trafigura in Libyas crude oil trading market for a second year in a row.

It is a big mosaic at the moment, but Glencore has kept a large chunk of the trade, one source told Reuters.

In October last year Glencores global head of oil Alex Beard said that the mining and commodity trading giant would be seeking to take on more crude oil trading in Iraq, Iran, Libya and Russia in a bid to boost its trading division.

At the time Beard said, speaking at the Reuters Commodities Summit:

We're very happy with our relationship with NOC and we've been very pleased to support them through some difficult times in the last 12 months and we're open to do more business there.

Related:Dollar Or Iran? Oil Needs A Serious Catalyst To Breakout

Back in 2015, Glencore secured a deal with Libyas NOC to buy half of the countrys then oil output of around 400,000 bpd. That deal was for the only relatively stable onshore production in Libya at the time, with civil unrest and port blockades crippling the countrys oil production in recent years.

Lately, Libya has recovered its crude oil production to around 700,000 bpd in January. The country seeks to increase oil production to 1.25 million bpdby the end of 2017 and 1.6 million bpd by 2022, the chairman of Libyas National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, said last month.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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Glencore Extends Deal To Lift 230000 Bpd Of Libyan Oil - OilPrice.com

The member of the High Council of Libyan Amazigh, Hisham Al-Hamadi, has denounced the statements made by the House of Representatives member, Ali Al-Tekbali, accusing what he called the Amazigh Army of occupying Tripolis western area.

Al-Tekbalis statements prove the amount of immorality the HoR has reached. Al-Hamadi added, saying Libyas Amazigh have boycotted the HoR both in nominations and elections from the start.

Speaking on TV, Al-Hamadi explained that the Tobruk MPs statements violate the international laws and the UN declaration (Article 08 of the International Law) that is signed by 106 countries including Libya on matters of reserving the rights of the natives.

We as Amazigh tolerate all people regardless of race and color. Al-Hamadi added, saying they decry threatening Tripolis Amazigh by what it he called Haftars militias that call themselves Libyan Arab Army, but they are loyal only to Haftar, he remarked.

Libyas Amazigh still have a fixed vision on supporting February revolution and rejecting any military rule. We will be the first to face any military rule that usurps Power in Libya. We will fight the so-called Arab Army. Al-Hamadi explained, denouncing the racial demeanor of the Tobruk-based HoR toward the the Amazighs case.

He also said that Nafousa Mountain and Zuwara areas, which are peopled by a majority of Amazigh residents, are two of the safest districts in Libya and Tripoli is much better than eastern Libya, which is under a military rule.

Rogue General, Khalifa Haftar, has called his Dignity Operation forces Libyan Arab Army which is very provocative for Libyas Amazigh, whose armed brigades have opposed Operation Dignity. They also fought against pro- Operation Dignity forces in Tripoli during Libya Dawn Operation in 2014.

See the rest here:
Amazigh High Council expresses preparedness to fight so-called ... - The Libya Observer

LONDON Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore has extended a deal with Libya's state oil firm to be the sole marketer of one third of the country's current crude oil production, sources familiar with the matter said.

It was not clear for how long Glencore would continue to have exclusivity over the output and whether some parts of the deal would be renegotiated.

The deal extends Glencore's dominance over rivals such as Vitol and Trafigura in handling barrels from the North African country for a second year running.

A spokesman for Glencore declined to comment. Officials at Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. (NOC) also declined to comment.

Libya has struggled for years to end a crippling blockade of its oil ports amid a civil war and Islamic State intrusions. Between security fears and erratic supply, refiners eventually stopped attempting to buy from the North African country.

With a dwindling revenue stream, NOC needed an intermediary that was comfortable managing the risks, able to market the oil globally and pay cash upfront for the cargoes.

Glencore snapped up the opportunity in September 2015 to resell the only relatively stable onshore output - from the Sarir and Mesla oilfields loaded at the country's easternmost Marsa el-Hariga port. Libya's small offshore production also continued.

Since 2015, the trader has been the only company able to buy Sarir and Mesla crude output directly from Libya's NOC and is expected to continue as NOC has largely finalised its 2017 allocations.

Libya's production has recovered to around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) and NOC hopes output will rise to 1.2 million bpd by the end of the year.

"It is a big mosaic at the moment, but Glencore has kept a large chunk of the trade," one of the sources said.

Glencore's deal entitles it to around 230,000 bpd from the Sarir and Mesla oilfields, the sources added. It also regularly delivers crucial refined fuel as Libya's refining system operates well below capacity. Glencore trades about 4.4 million bpd of crude and refined products.

Vitol and Petraco have also been picking up cargoes but on a small scale, and producers with stakes in oilfields in the country such as Total, Repsol, OMV have returned to loading tankers, as have buyers such as Unipec, the trading arm of China's state-owned Sinopec.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Mark Potter)

LONDON Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to sell its stake in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), an offshore oil and gas joint venture, in what would mark the company's effective exit from Denmark, three banking sources said.

SINGAPORE Singapore Exchange has held talks with Saudi Aramco on a secondary listing, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, after the oil and gas company suggested last week it would likely simultaneously list on more than one exchange.

OSLO Hit by the oil industry recession, Norwegian offshore service vessel (OSV) operators Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and Solstad Offshore announced plans to merge on Monday to counter the downturn.

Excerpt from:
Trading giant Glencore extends major Libyan oil deal: sources - Reuters