EXXONMOBIL SELLS SHARES IN MOROCCAN AFFILIATE

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000282 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2018 TAGS: ECON EPET ENRG EFIN MO SUBJECT: EXXONMOBIL SELLS SHARES IN MOROCCAN AFFILIATE This message is sensitive but unclassified. It contains proprietary information, not for public release. REF: 06 TUNIS 02970 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: ExxonMobil will announce on January 30 a strategic decision to sell its shares of Mobil Oil Maroc to Libya Oil Holdings Limited, a Libyan-government entity. The sale's impact on Morocco is expected to be minor. End Summary. -------------- EXXONMOBIL SELLS MOBIL OIL MAROC TO LIBYA OIL -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Henri Soudan, Lead Country Manager for Mobil Oil Maroc, informed the CG on January 29 that ExxonMobil will announce on January 30 an agreement signed last week to sell its shares in Mobil Oil Maroc to Libya Oil Holdings Limited, a company owned by the Libyan government. ¶3. (SBU) The sale's impact on Morocco is expected to be minor. Contractual obligations to customers and employees will remain in force, and Libya Oil will maintain the existing work contracts and benefits held by Mobil Oil Maroc's 120 employees. Soudan estimates the transition from Mobil Oil Maroc to Libya Oil will take about two to three months, and he anticipates that it will be calm and, in his words, "quieter than in other African countries." As part of the changeover, ExxonMobil will stipulate a phase-out period for Oil Libya to rebrand Mobil Oil Maroc's service stations, as well as change the fuel and lubricants sold. ¶4. (SBU) Soudan said ExxonMobil's decision to sell its shares of Mobil Oil Maroc does not reflect the quality of the Moroccan workforce, the situation of ExxonMobil itself or the economic environment in Morocco, which he deemed safe and attractive for investment. Rather, the company has made a strategic decision to withdraw from non-integrated markets in Africa, where other operators can give higher value to the smaller markets that exist there. In the past eight years, ExxonMobil has divested its shares in downstream operations in all but two of its Africa-based affiliates, while Libya Oil is now present in 15 African countries. ExxonMobil will retain its significant upstream operations in Africa, which are expected to reach production of one million oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2010. GREENE