Reply #12: Rebels *not* revising oil contracts (HA!), France works close to daffi, China met rebel leaders

[joshcryer]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/uk-energy-libya-deals-idUKTRE75154P20110604">Libya rebels are not revising oil deals - source
Libyan rebel officials are in contact with top oil companies that operate in the north African country but no new contracts are being drawn up, a source in the rebel leadership said.

Information and pricing agency Platts reported this week that the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) was in preliminary talks with Italy over a possible renegotiation of a production-sharing deal for Libya's Bouri offshore field.

It said the talks might result in the rebels taking charge of the stake in the field owned by Libya's state National Oil Corporation, which operates Bouri in association with Italy's Eni.

"We are having talks with top companies that operate in Libya, but we are not making new contracts," the source in the Benghazi-based national council told Reuters.

I thought it was about the oil? I hope the TNC completely blows everyone away by constitutionally mandating that the oil can never go below 90% share for the Libyan people.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/uk-libya-france-idUKTRE7521K720110604">France working on those close to Libya's Gaddafi
France said on Friday it was working with those close to Muammar Gaddafi to try to convince him to leave power as well as stepping up military pressure via the NATO-led mission in Libya.

"He is more and more isolated," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told Europe 1 radio. "There have been more defections around him and we have received messages from his close entourage which has understood that he must leave power."

"We will increase the military pressure as we have been doing for several days...but at the same time we are talking with everyone who can convince him to leave power," he said, speaking by telephone during a visit to Israel.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/uk-china-libya-idUKTRE75220U20110604">China says it held meeting with Libyan rebel leader
A Chinese diplomat met the leader of the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council fighting to oust Muammar Gaddafi, Beijing said on Friday, its first confirmed contact with the group.

The terse statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei did not disclose details of the talks between Beijing's ambassador in Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, and Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the Council that is trying to offer itself as a credible temporary alterative to embattled Gaddafi.

But the meeting itself was an indication that Beijing wants to keep open lines of communication with the rebel forces that could supplant Gaddafi, even as it urges a political solution to the conflict.

The two men met in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and "exchanged views on developments in Libya," Hong said in a statement on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

As goes Russia so goes China, expect China to call for Gaddafi to step down soon enough.