Energy-rich Libya has approved an offer by Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom, to buy all its hydrocarbon exports.
It follows a meeting in Tripoli between Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and Gazprom chairman Aleksey Miller. Gazprom will also set up a joint venture with Libya's national oil corporation to modernise Libya's oil refining facilities and create new capacity. The two sides agreed to set up another joint venture for exploration and development in the north African country’s oil and gas fields. Miller had previously said Gazprom was interested in a project to expand an undersea pipeline from Libya to Sicily.