National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya and Yara International ASA of Norway, have signed a Heads of Agreement with the intention to establish a joint venture for production and marketing of mineral fertilizer. The planned joint venture will be owned 50% by each partner and will comprise the ammonia and urea plants located in Marsa el Brega in Libya, presently owned by NOC. The intention is to finalize the negotiations and to establish the new company by the end of 2007.
NOC and Yara have decided to engage in a partnership to further develop the existing production capacity at Marsa el Brega in Libya, and to develop a strategic cooperation for the potential development of further fertilizer projects in Libya.
Dr. Shokri Ghanem / Chairman of NOC said “ This partnership is another example of NOC’s new policy of attracting foreign investment and expertize for the benefit of the Libyan economy. This new cooperation we strongly believe will bring togther a global fertalizer company and a national corporation having the qualifications to create such a joint venture able to upgrade the exisiting plants as well as adding new capacities and strengthen NOC’s position in the international market”.
“With our new partnership with The National Oil Corporation of Libya we have found an excellent strategic fit, including sound economics and future development opportunities. We believe that this new cooperation will serve to further strengthen Yara’s position as the global market leader within the fertilizer industry,” says President and CEO at Yara International, Thorleif Enger.
The planned joint venture will comprise the ammonia and urea plants located in Marsa el Brega in Libya, which are presently owned by NOC. The existing operations currently produce approx. 700,000 tones of ammonia per year, of which approx. 150,000 tones are available for sale, and 900,000 tones of urea. NOC will supply natural gas and services to the new company. It is intended that Yara will contribute towards a further upgrading of the production assets including building new world scale fertilizer plants and will be appointed the marketer for export of products from the Marsa el Brega site.
