Update 5 - Malta strikes favourable oil, gas procurement deal with Libya

Update 5 - Adds details - Malta has struck a deal with Libya to buy oil and other energy products from that country as preferential rates. The deal, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, was signed after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had a meeting at the Auberge de Castille with Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who arrived in Malta this morning. The agreement provides that Libya will supply energy products to Malta at preferential rates. That will include crude and refined oil, jet fuel and LPG. The agreement kicks in as soon as Libya resumes normal production, which is expected in the near future. "This will shield Malta and enable it to stabilise the price of fuel amid international price fluctuations," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said at a press conference. He described the memorandum of understanding as 'groundbreaking'. Malta, he said, could in the medium term, become a hub for energy supplies to the EU. The two countries also reached an arrangement for Libyan oil and gas workers to learn English in Malta. Progress was also reached on the outstanding problem of oil exploration in waters which both countries claim as their own. Dr Muscat said the two countries had...