India unlikely to accept Gadhafi call for oil exploration

TRIPOLI, Mar 15 (Commodity Online) : India is yet to respond officially to Libyan leader Gadhafi's invitation to explore oil from its vast resources, the largest in Africa. India on the other hand evacuated most of its citizen's from the troubled country since the battle became deadly and after most foreign companies stop working and fled the country. In a desperate bid to regain control over oil destinations and assure revenues Sunday, Libya's troubled leader Muammar Gadhafi invited Indian, Chinese and Russian firms to replace western companies to produce oil. According to reports by Libya's state agency, Gadhafi officially invited leading companies from these three nations to operate and produce oil as he wanted to sent back remaining western company operartors, accusing their governments for supporting the rebels. The news agency, Jana said Gadhafi met ambassadors of China, Russia and India, discussed the progress of bilateral relations and an invitation to firms from these countries to exploit Libyan oil. China and Russia are also remained silent over Gadhafi's invitation. Libya was producing 1.69 million barrels per day (bpd) before the unrest, according to the International Energy Agency. Of this, 1.2 million bpd was exported, mostly to Europe but with China and the United States also major customers.