Gaddafi says looking at oil firm nationalization

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday his country and other oil exporters were looking into nationalizing foreign firms due to low oil prices and suggested Tripoli might not stick to OPEC production quotas.

Speaking via a satellite link from Libya to students at Georgetown University in Washington, he called the current price of oil “unbearable.”

Oil was around $44 a barrel on Wednesday, less than a third of the price in July of $147.

“We would not adhere to OPEC’s regulations because our livelihood depends on oil,” Gaddafi said, without providing any details of how Libya might not stick to the oil producing organization’s quotas.

Last month, Libya told oil firms to cut output by 270,000 barrels per day from January 1, more than the curb it needs to make under an OPEC deal to pump less.

Gaddafi, who decides Libya’s oil policy, referred to recent Libyan newspaper reports over nationalization because of the dipping oil prices.

Reuters