Russia, Libya to set up joint oil and gas venture

TRIPOLI, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state natural gas giant Gazprom and the National Oil Corporation of Libya have agreed to set up a joint venture, Gazprom said.

The deal came during President Vladimir Putin's visit to the north African country, where he yesterday met with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi.

The new joint venture "will operate in literally all areas of cooperation in the oil and gas sector, on all parts of the chain - from geological prospecting to production, transportation and sales, both in gas and oil," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Wednesday.

He also said Gazprom is interested in joint liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with Libya, as well as taking part in the construction of a gas pipeline from Libya to Italy, and operations in other North African markets.

Russia's outgoing president arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday for a two-day visit.