BIG OIL TREKS BACK TO TRIPOLI

摘要

It was the deal that put Occidental Petroleum Corp, on the map. Back in the 1960s, Oxy Chairman Dr. Armand Hammer came calling on King Idris of Libya with a bold plan: He'd dig water wells in Libya's deserts in exchange for exploration rights to Libya's vast oil reserves. By the mid-'80s, the country accounted for 22% of Oxy's crude-oil production and 19% of its reserves. Now, nearly two decades after the U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya following the rise to power of dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, Oxy wants back in-only this time if s offering cold hard cash instead of wells. After meeting with Qaddafi in his desert tent in March, Hammer's successor, Oxy Chairman Ray R. Irani, says Qaddafi wants to "put all the problems with the West behind him. We're keeping our fingers crossed."