CONNECTING THE DOTS TO THE US-LIBYA DETENTE

From the FT:

"Libya? Absolutely we're interested," Pat Mulva, ExxonMobil vice-president of investor relations, responded to analysts on a conference call on Thursday. "We're getting actively involved." Previous comments by the Texas-based oil company about Libya had been far more muted.

ChevronTexaco, the second biggest US oil and gas group after ExxonMobil, is also keen to move in.

"As a company with a substantial prior history in Libya, we support the US government's decision to ease sanctions and now look forward to the full opening of Libya for all international investors," said Stan Luckoski, ChevronTexaco spokesman.

Indeed, the California-based company has been preparing for such a decision. "We have been involved in discussions with Libyan officials to understand what opportunities might exist there," Mr Luckoski said. "For business reasons, we cannot comment on the nature of those discussions, nor will we speculate about our future plans."