Roger Tamraz
Encyclopedia
Roger Tamraz is an international banker and venture capital investor who has had an active business career in oil and gas in the Middle East
, Europe
, Asia
and the United States
since the early 1960s. Born in 1940 in Cairo
, Egypt
to Lebanese parents, Tamraz grew up speaking fluent English, French and Arabic. His early schooling was at the prestigious English School in Cairo. He subsequently attended the American University in Cairo
, Cambridge University in a Ph.D. program, and the Institut Européen d’Administration (INSEAD
) in Fontainebleau
, France
. He received an MBA in 1966 from Harvard Business School
, where his classmates included many future leaders in Western and international governments and businesses.
Tamraz served for many years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo
, where he endowed a number of named scholarships for Egyptian students of exceptional promise.
Tamraz was nominated as Governor of the Central Bank
in 1988.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1989.
investment bank Kidder, Peabody & Co.
, he successfully refloated a large Lebanese bank called Intra Bank
, which had become insolvent in 1966. The bank had been founded in Beirut in 1951 by Yousef Beidas
and three partners as a currency trading house named International Traders. The bank stopped payments on October 14, 1966. The collapse of the bank brought the Lebanese economy to a halt and sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East
. Intra Bank
accounted for 15% of total bank deposits and 38% of all deposits with Lebanese-owned banks. It owned nine other banks, controlled 35 companies and employed 43,000 people at the time of its collapse.
The collapse was followed by its restructuring, under a plan known as the “Kidder Peabody Plan,” which was engineered by Tamraz (who served for years as its chairman and chief executive officer), under which the deposit obligations of the old Intra Bank were replaced with shares in a new company named Intra Investment Company (IIC), one of the major sovereign wealth investment companies in the Middle East
. The major shareholders of IIC were the Lebanese government, along with the governments of Kuwait
, Qatar
and the United States
, all of which had been major depositors in the former bank. IIC remained a major shareholder in key institutions such as Middle East Airlines
(Tamraz was the Vice Chairman of the airline for a number of years, with special responsibility for its finances, banking relationships and aircraft purchases), Casino du Liban
and Bank Al Mashrek, which carried out the remaining banking operations. Kidder Peabody continued to advise the board of IIC until 1973 under an advisory contract, at which time the relationship was discontinued.
in the early 1970s, Tamraz continued his investment banking activities, dealing with most major companies and governments in the area. His early background gave him an unusual ability to bridge East and West, while his educational background and fluency in Arabic quickly made him a trusted banker and adviser throughout the Middle East
.
Working with the government of Kuwait
, for instance, he reorganized Gulf Fisheries, a company with over 200 ocean-going fishing vessels worldwide, and supervised and priced its takeover by the Kuwaiti government. At the same time, he also worked with Egypt Air and the Egyptian government to completely re-equip the airline’s fleet with new Boeing passenger aircraft.
Tamraz acquired ownership of Chantiers Navals de la Ciotat (CNC), the second-largest shipyard in
France
, in the early 1970s. This company was one of the early pioneers in the construction of LNG
vessels for oceangoing natural gas transport, and also specialized in submarines, patrol boats and
other military platforms. In addition, the yard constructed very large crude carriers (VLCC5) and
conventional bulk cargo vessels for the civilian maritime industry.
In the 1970s, Tamraz conceived, financed and built the well-known 200 miles (321.9 km) long Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) Pipeline
in Egypt
, considered as “one of the world’s greatest engineering feats”, a pipeline
designed to run parallel to the blocked Suez Canal
, which had been closed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Using Bechtel
Corporation as prime contractor, the pipeline, which comprises two parallel 42-inch lines, was opened in 1978 with a capacity of 1.6 Moilbbl/d. Completion of an additional pumping station in 1994 increased capacity to its current 2.5 Moilbbl/d.
Concurrently with the SUMED project, Tamraz conceived and financed the world’s largest chemical methanol
plant in Jubail
, Saudi Arabia
in partnership with Japan’s Itochu
Corporation and Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries. Tamraz continued subsequently as an advisor to Itochu senior management, especially on Middle East
energy strategy. The methanol
project included a five-year, 100 Moilbbl preferential crude oil supply contract for Japan
that was signed with the Saudi government during the 1973 oil crisis.
In 1976, Tamraz moved into United States
financial markets with his acquisition of Bank of the Commonwealth
, a Michigan
-based bank with 50 branches. He strengthened and expanded the bank until 1983, when it was merged into the founding of Comerica
, Inc., now one of the largest super-regional U.S. bank holding companies. The merger made Tamraz the largest single shareholder in Comerica
at the time, before selling out to finance the Tamoil
acquisition described below. Comerica
currently has assets of $64 billion and a market capitalization of $5.6 billion.
By the early 1980s, Tamraz became the 100% owner of the Meurice Hotel Group in pipeline]] distribution system and a refining capacity of 250000 barrels (39,746.8 m³) of oil per day. Tamoil today has annual sales of $20 billion and a market capitalization of $6.3 billion.
In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union loosened its grip on Central Asia, Tamraz was the originator of the 1100 miles (1,770.3 km) Baku-Ceyhan (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
) considered as “one of the great engineering endeavours”, an oil pipeline project, to move 1 Moilbbl/d of Caspian Sea
oil to the Mediterranean Sea
and thus to world markets. Tamraz managed to obtain support for the proposed pipeline from Turkmen President Niyazov, Azerbaijan's President Heydar Aliyev
, and Turkey's Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller
, and Turkey's Botas company. Tamraz's companies negotiated and signed the original pipeline right-of-way transit agreement with the Government of Turkey
. This agreement was essential to the success of the project, which was eventually completed by BP
after its purchase of Amoco
, with which Tamraz had been cooperating in the Central Asian area. During this period, Tamraz acquired equity ownership positions in Turkmenistan
’s Blocks I and II two of that country’s major oil and gas producing properties. These fields have reserves of 13 cubic foot (3.68119011E-09 km³) of gas and 700 Moilbbl of oil, with 1,400 working wells, and currently produce two billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.
to buy back Tamoil
.
Tamraz's strategy is to use the Tamoil
acquisition to expand Netoil's existing energy businesses, which operate in the Middle East
and Asia
primarily through Netoil's Tamgaz subsidiary.
Netoil is currently in the construction phase of a large seaborne floating liquefied natural gas
(FLNG) project in the Indian Ocean
that will transform gas gathered by pipeline
from the Caspian Sea
area into LNG, which will ship to export markets in Asia
and Europe
.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since the early 1960s. Born in 1940 in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
to Lebanese parents, Tamraz grew up speaking fluent English, French and Arabic. His early schooling was at the prestigious English School in Cairo. He subsequently attended the American University in Cairo
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...
, Cambridge University in a Ph.D. program, and the Institut Européen d’Administration (INSEAD
INSEAD
INSEAD is an international graduate business school and research institution. It has campuses in Europe , Asia , and the Middle East , as well as a research center in Israel...
) in Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He received an MBA in 1966 from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, where his classmates included many future leaders in Western and international governments and businesses.
Tamraz served for many years as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...
, where he endowed a number of named scholarships for Egyptian students of exceptional promise.
Tamraz was nominated as Governor of the Central Bank
Central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries...
in 1988.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1989.
Lebanon: Intra Bank and Bank Al Mashrek
Tamraz's first notable business enterprise was in 1967, when as an executive of the Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
investment bank Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Kidder, Peabody & Co. was a U.S.-based securities firm, established in Massachusetts in 1865. Its operations included investment banking, brokerage, and trading....
, he successfully refloated a large Lebanese bank called Intra Bank
Intra Bank
Intra Bank was a Lebanese bank, and the largest financial institution in the Middle East until its collapse in 1966.-Foundation and Rise of the Bank:...
, which had become insolvent in 1966. The bank had been founded in Beirut in 1951 by Yousef Beidas
Yousef Beidas
Yousef Beidas was a Palestinian Lebanese banker...
and three partners as a currency trading house named International Traders. The bank stopped payments on October 14, 1966. The collapse of the bank brought the Lebanese economy to a halt and sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Intra Bank
Intra Bank
Intra Bank was a Lebanese bank, and the largest financial institution in the Middle East until its collapse in 1966.-Foundation and Rise of the Bank:...
accounted for 15% of total bank deposits and 38% of all deposits with Lebanese-owned banks. It owned nine other banks, controlled 35 companies and employed 43,000 people at the time of its collapse.
The collapse was followed by its restructuring, under a plan known as the “Kidder Peabody Plan,” which was engineered by Tamraz (who served for years as its chairman and chief executive officer), under which the deposit obligations of the old Intra Bank were replaced with shares in a new company named Intra Investment Company (IIC), one of the major sovereign wealth investment companies in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The major shareholders of IIC were the Lebanese government, along with the governments of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, all of which had been major depositors in the former bank. IIC remained a major shareholder in key institutions such as Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
(Tamraz was the Vice Chairman of the airline for a number of years, with special responsibility for its finances, banking relationships and aircraft purchases), Casino du Liban
Casino du Liban
Casino du Liban is a casino located in Maameltein, Jounieh in Lebanon and is 22 km north of Beirut.With an area of about 35,000 square meters, the casino has around 400 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. It has a showroom, night club, theater, banquet facility and five restaurants. The casino was...
and Bank Al Mashrek, which carried out the remaining banking operations. Kidder Peabody continued to advise the board of IIC until 1973 under an advisory contract, at which time the relationship was discontinued.
SUMED, Bank of the Commonwealth, Tamoil, Meurice, Baku-Ceyhan
After leaving Intra BankIntra Bank
Intra Bank was a Lebanese bank, and the largest financial institution in the Middle East until its collapse in 1966.-Foundation and Rise of the Bank:...
in the early 1970s, Tamraz continued his investment banking activities, dealing with most major companies and governments in the area. His early background gave him an unusual ability to bridge East and West, while his educational background and fluency in Arabic quickly made him a trusted banker and adviser throughout the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Working with the government of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, for instance, he reorganized Gulf Fisheries, a company with over 200 ocean-going fishing vessels worldwide, and supervised and priced its takeover by the Kuwaiti government. At the same time, he also worked with Egypt Air and the Egyptian government to completely re-equip the airline’s fleet with new Boeing passenger aircraft.
Tamraz acquired ownership of Chantiers Navals de la Ciotat (CNC), the second-largest shipyard in
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in the early 1970s. This company was one of the early pioneers in the construction of LNG
vessels for oceangoing natural gas transport, and also specialized in submarines, patrol boats and
other military platforms. In addition, the yard constructed very large crude carriers (VLCC5) and
conventional bulk cargo vessels for the civilian maritime industry.
In the 1970s, Tamraz conceived, financed and built the well-known 200 miles (321.9 km) long Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) Pipeline
Sumed pipeline
The Sumed pipeline is an oil pipeline in Egypt, running from the Ain Sukhna terminal on the Gulf of Suez to offshore Sidi Kerir, Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, considered as “one of the world’s greatest engineering feats”, a pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
designed to run parallel to the blocked Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, which had been closed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Using Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
Corporation as prime contractor, the pipeline, which comprises two parallel 42-inch lines, was opened in 1978 with a capacity of 1.6 Moilbbl/d. Completion of an additional pumping station in 1994 increased capacity to its current 2.5 Moilbbl/d.
Concurrently with the SUMED project, Tamraz conceived and financed the world’s largest chemical methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
plant in Jubail
Jubail
Jubail , is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Old Town of Al Jubail, which was originally a small fishing village, up to 1975 and the new industrial area....
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
in partnership with Japan’s Itochu
ITOCHU
, until 1992 "C. Itoh" in English, is a Japanese general trading concern based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It has a common origin with Marubeni Corporation. Itochu is a Fortune 500 company.-History:...
Corporation and Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
Heavy Industries. Tamraz continued subsequently as an advisor to Itochu senior management, especially on Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
energy strategy. The methanol
Methanol
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
project included a five-year, 100 Moilbbl preferential crude oil supply contract for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
that was signed with the Saudi government during the 1973 oil crisis.
In 1976, Tamraz moved into United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
financial markets with his acquisition of Bank of the Commonwealth
Bank of the Commonwealth
The name Bank of the Commonwealth represents any of the following:* Bank of the Commonwealth, a former financial institution in Detroit, Michigan, acquired by Comerica in 1983...
, a Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
-based bank with 50 branches. He strengthened and expanded the bank until 1983, when it was merged into the founding of Comerica
Comerica
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has retail banking operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas; and select business operations in several other U.S...
, Inc., now one of the largest super-regional U.S. bank holding companies. The merger made Tamraz the largest single shareholder in Comerica
Comerica
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has retail banking operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas; and select business operations in several other U.S...
at the time, before selling out to finance the Tamoil
Tamoil
Tamoil is the trading name of the Oilinvest B.V. Group, a European based downstream oil group.The Tamoil Group, which was purchased by Libyan state entities in the late 1980s, is involved in supplying, trading, refining and selling petroleum products.Recently, Roger Tamraz’s Netoil group of...
acquisition described below. Comerica
Comerica
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has retail banking operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas; and select business operations in several other U.S...
currently has assets of $64 billion and a market capitalization of $5.6 billion.
By the early 1980s, Tamraz became the 100% owner of the Meurice Hotel Group in pipeline]] distribution system and a refining capacity of 250000 barrels (39,746.8 m³) of oil per day. Tamoil today has annual sales of $20 billion and a market capitalization of $6.3 billion.
In the early 1990s, after the Soviet Union loosened its grip on Central Asia, Tamraz was the originator of the 1100 miles (1,770.3 km) Baku-Ceyhan (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline is a long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey,...
) considered as “one of the great engineering endeavours”, an oil pipeline project, to move 1 Moilbbl/d of Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
oil to the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and thus to world markets. Tamraz managed to obtain support for the proposed pipeline from Turkmen President Niyazov, Azerbaijan's President Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev , also spelled as Heidar Aliev, Geidar Aliev, Haydar Aliyev, Geydar Aliyev was the third President of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from June 1993 to October 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him.From 1969 till 1982, Aliyev was also the leader of Soviet...
, and Turkey's Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
, and Turkey's Botas company. Tamraz's companies negotiated and signed the original pipeline right-of-way transit agreement with the Government of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. This agreement was essential to the success of the project, which was eventually completed by BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
after its purchase of Amoco
Amoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
, with which Tamraz had been cooperating in the Central Asian area. During this period, Tamraz acquired equity ownership positions in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
’s Blocks I and II two of that country’s major oil and gas producing properties. These fields have reserves of 13 cubic foot (3.68119011E-09 km³) of gas and 700 Moilbbl of oil, with 1,400 working wells, and currently produce two billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.
Netoil, Tamoil and Tamgaz
Recently, Roger Tamraz’s Netoil group of companies has been in discussions with LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
to buy back Tamoil
Tamoil
Tamoil is the trading name of the Oilinvest B.V. Group, a European based downstream oil group.The Tamoil Group, which was purchased by Libyan state entities in the late 1980s, is involved in supplying, trading, refining and selling petroleum products.Recently, Roger Tamraz’s Netoil group of...
.
Tamraz's strategy is to use the Tamoil
Tamoil
Tamoil is the trading name of the Oilinvest B.V. Group, a European based downstream oil group.The Tamoil Group, which was purchased by Libyan state entities in the late 1980s, is involved in supplying, trading, refining and selling petroleum products.Recently, Roger Tamraz’s Netoil group of...
acquisition to expand Netoil's existing energy businesses, which operate in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
primarily through Netoil's Tamgaz subsidiary.
Netoil is currently in the construction phase of a large seaborne floating liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport....
(FLNG) project in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
that will transform gas gathered by pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
from the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
area into LNG, which will ship to export markets in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.