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45-855: Agoco's roots go back to 1971 when the Arabian Gulf Exploration Company (AGECO) was established, following the implementation of Law No. 115, issued by the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council nationalizing shares held by British Petroleum (BP). Agoco was formed by the NOC in late 1979 to take over the assets of a partnership of BP and Nelson Bunker Hunt of the United States , and a partnership of Chevron and Texaco called Amoseas. Agoco has upstream operations in eight oil fields , including Sarir, Messla, Nafoora, Beda and Hammada. The company also operates an oil terminal and

90-519: A Levantine Christian émigré in 19th century Egypt. He also popularized through his historical novels a secular understanding of Arab history encompassing the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods into a shared history that all Arabs could claim as their own. As a political project, pan-Arabism was first pressed by Sharif Hussein ibn Ali , the Sharif of Mecca , who sought independence for the Mashreq Arabs from

135-517: A Palestinian nationalist in 1951, the vision of Greater Syria was dropped from the Jordanian agenda. Although pan-Arabism began at the time of World War I , Egypt (the most populous and arguably most important Arab country) was not interested in pan-Arabism prior to the 1950s. Thus, in the 1930s and 1940s, Egyptian nationalism – not pan-Arabism – was the dominant mode of expression of Egyptian political activists. James Jankowski wrote about Egypt at

180-617: A refinery in Tobruk and Sarir. The Sarir field was discovered in the Sirte Basin by BP in 1961 is considered the country's largest field. The Messla field was discovered in 1971 and is situated 500 km southeast of Benghazi and is also considered one of the biggest fields in the Sirte basin. Nafoora field is situated in the northeastern part of the Sirte basin and discovered in early 1965. The Beda and Hamada fields were discovered during 1959, in

225-629: A new socialist ideology based on Islam , rejecting Marxism . During a speech in Zuwarah on 15 April 1973, Gaddafi declared the Cultural Revolution which laid down five principles for the continuation of the revolution in Libya. This happened after increasing tensions between Gaddafi and his colleagues in the RCC had led him to agree to step down. Gaddafi had told the RCC that he would announce his resignation to

270-518: A plan to this effect to the United Kingdom , which controlled Palestine at that time. The plan was not popular among the majority of Arabs and fostered distrust among the leaders of the other Middle Eastern countries against Abdullah. The distrust of Abdullah's expansionist aspirations was one of the principal reasons for the founding of the Arab League in 1945. Once Abdullah was assassinated by

315-541: A refining capacity of 30,000 bbl/d (4,800 m/d). The fuel supply from the refinery meets requirements for the Sarir Agricultural Project as well as for the general area. Agoco also has a 9,000 bbl/d (1,400 m/d) portable petroleum refinery or topping plant at Sarir. The Tobruk refinery has been on stream since 1971 and entered the production phase during 1989. In 1990, the refinery operations were transferred to Agoco after being directly managed by

360-516: A small country being annexed by a larger one. It lasted until 1961, when Syrian army officers carried out a coup d'état and withdrew from the union. As politicians felt pressured by the wide public to espouse the idea of unity, Egypt, Syria and Iraq entered into an abortive agreement in 1963 to form the United Arab Republic, which was to be "federal in structure, leaving each member state its identity and institutions." By 1961, Egypt had become

405-459: A state policy and a means with which to define Egypt's position in the Middle East and the world, usually articulated vis-à-vis Zionism in the neighboring state of Israel. There have been several attempts to bring about a pan-Arab state by many well-known Arab leaders, all of which ultimately resulted in failure. British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden called for Arab unity during the 1940s, and

450-604: Is a pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arab people in a single nation-state , consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea , which is referred to as the Arab world . It is closely connected to Arab nationalism , which asserts the view that the Arabs constitute a single nation . It originated in

495-635: The Arab Maghreb Union was formed in 1989. Aside from the forcible unification of much of the Arabian Peninsula by the Saudi rulers of Najd during the 1920s, the unity of seven Arab emirates that form the United Arab Emirates and the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen stand today as rare examples of actual unification. The current Syrian government is, and the former government of Iraq

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540-606: The Nahda (Arab awakening or enlightenment) movement that flourished in the Arab regions of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century. A prominent figure was Jurji Zaydan (1861–1914), who played a key role in laying the intellectual foundation for Pan-Arabism. Zaydan had critical influence on acceptance of a modernized version of the Quranic Arabic language ( Modern Standard Arabic ) as

585-800: The Ottoman Empire , and the establishment of a unified Arab state in the Mashreq. In 1915 and 1916, the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence resulted in an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Sharif that if the Mashreq Arabs revolted successfully against the Ottomans, the United Kingdom would support claims for Mashreq Arab independence. In 1916, however, the Sykes-Picot Agreement between

630-768: The United Arab States , existed as a confederation between the United Arab Republic and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , but it dissolved in 1961. Two later attempts represented the enthusiasm of Libya 's Muammar Gaddafi , the Federation of Arab Republics , which lasted five years, and the Arab Islamic Republic with Tunisia , which also aimed to include Algeria and Morocco but never emerged in practice. Muammar Gaddafi had talks with Chadli Bendjedid in 1988 about forming an Algeria-Libya union. Instead

675-535: The armed forces . It was ideologically Arab nationalist , republican , anti-imperialist and pan-Arabist . In 1977, the Libyan Arab Republic was abolished and Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was established. As a part of this, the RCC was officially abolished and replaced by the general secretariat of the General People's Congress . As a result of the 1969 Libyan coup d'état led by Gaddafi,

720-527: The 12-member central committee of the Free Officers Movement converted themselves into a Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), which governed the newly established Libyan Arab Republic . Below them was formed a council of ministers, headed by Mahmud Suleiman Maghribi , to oversee the implementation of RCC policy. The RCC was instantly recognized by the Arab nationalist governments of Egypt , Iraq , Sudan and Syria . Egypt sent experts to support

765-498: The 1967 Six-Day War and the inability of Egypt and Syria to generate economic growth in some form, also damaged pan-Arabism's credibility. "By the mid-1970s," according to The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East , "the idea of Arab unity became less and less apparent in Arab politics, though it remained a wishful goal among the masses." By the late 1980s, pan-Arabism began to be eclipsed by both nationalist and Islamist ideologies. Although pan-Arabism lost appeal by

810-576: The 1969 coup—officially described as "the Revolution." As a result, although Gaddafi held no formal governmental post after 1979, he continued to have the most important role in the government of the country until his overthrow and killing in the First Libyan Civil War in 2011. The initial members (1970) were as follows: Pan-Arabism Pan-Arabism ( Arabic : الوحدة العربية , romanized :  al-wiḥda al-ʿarabiyyah )

855-406: The Arab and Islamic worlds. Such competition sporadically resulted in friction between the leaders of these Arab countries. The United Arab Republic , which was formulated by Egypt ’s Gamal Abdel Nasser and Syria ’s Shukri al-Quwatli , was promoted to be the collective voice for the Arab world and the spearhead of pan-Arabism. Being the only physical incarnation of pan-Arabism, it did not receive

900-610: The Arab world following the Suez Crisis , the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958 was the first case of the actual merger of two previously-independent Arab countries. Hastily formed under President Nasser's leadership but on the initiative of Syrian leaders who feared a takeover by communists or "reactionaries" and hoped to lead the new entity, the UAR was a unitary state, not a federal union, with its critics seeing this as hardly more than

945-619: The Libyan Armed Forces and appoint a Council of Ministers. By 1975, Gaddafi became the only member of the RCC to initiate major political programs or policies. Gaddafi remained the public face of the government, with the identities of the other RCC members only being publicly revealed in the Official Gazette on 10 January 1970. All of them were young men, from (typically rural) working and middle-class backgrounds, and none had university degrees; in this way they were all distinct from

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990-510: The NOC. In 1996, Tobruk had two thermo-compression distillation units installed to produce 750 cm/d of drinking water from the Mediterranean Sea . The General contractor for the project was United Kingdom -based Weir Westgarth Ltd., a subsidiary of the Weir Group . The Marsa El Hariga Terminal ( Tobruk ) is situated on the southern coast of the Tobruk trading port. Construction of

1035-599: The Revolutionary Command Council which lacked experience. Gaddafi expressed Pan-Arabism , announcing the need for one united Arab state in the Middle East and North Africa . He proposed the establishment of the Federation of Arab Republics in 1972 with Egypt and Syria. It was approved by 98.6% of voters in Libya with a referendum on 1 September 1971. Captain Gaddafi was promoted to the rank of colonel , and

1080-507: The United Kingdom and France determined that parts of the Mashreq would be divided between those powers rather than forming part of an independent Arab state. When the Ottoman Empire surrendered in 1918, the United Kingdom refused to keep to the letter of its arrangements with Hussein, and the two nations assumed guardianship of Mesopotamia, Lebanon , Palestine and what became modern Syria. Ultimately, Hussein became King of only Hijaz , in

1125-602: The close bounding of all Islamic communities to maintain and promote an essence of one family, one cause. The philosophy of pan-Arabism placed itself in contradiction to the philosophy of pan-Islamism as was clarified by religious scholars and Sheikhs within the various Arab countries, especially the Persian gulf. The belief held by critics emphasized that pan-Arabism separated itself from the Ummah in that it only promoted Arab unity and ideals, not Islamic ones. The religious conservatism within

1170-468: The eastern Sirte basin and the southern border of the Grahames basin respectively. Bede and Hamada are nearly considered dead fields unless new Enhanced oil recovery technology can be implemented. Additionally, Agoco often operates fields owned by other companies. Agoco production was estimated by NOC at around 430,000 bbl/d (68,000 m/d) in 2003. The Sarir refinery started operations in 1989 and has

1215-633: The establishment of the Arab Ba’ath (Renaissance) Party , and the former was for long its chief ideologist, combining elements of Marxist thought with nationalism to a considerable extent reminiscent of nineteenth-century European romantic nationalism. It has been said that Arsuzi was fascinated with the Nazi ideology of "racial purity" and impacted Aflaq . Abdullah I of Jordan dreamed of uniting Syria , Palestine , and Jordan under his leadership in what he would call Greater Syria . He unsuccessfully proposed

1260-490: The expected praise from other Arab nations, especially in the Gulf, which further added to the decline of pan-Arabism. To a lesser extent, the military defeat to “arch-enemy” Israel made both prominent sources of pan-Arabism reconsider such philosophy. The United Arab Republic , consisting of Egypt and Syria , received ideological burden due to the unfavorable outcome, thus putting pan-Arabism in question. The victory of Israel in

1305-520: The late 19th century among the Arab regions of the Ottoman Empire , and its popularity reached its height during the 1950s and 1960s. Advocates of pan-Arabism have often espoused Arab socialist principles and strongly opposed the political involvement of the West in the Arab world. It also sought to empower Arab states against outside forces by forming alliances and, to a lesser extent, economic co-operation. The origins of pan-Arabism are often attributed to

1350-580: The old regime were imprisoned, though none were executed. They maintained the previous administration's ban on political parties, and ruled by decree . Further restrictions were placed on the press, and in May 1970, trade unions were banned. In June 1971, Gaddafi declared the formation of the Arab Socialist Union as the sole legal party of Libya. Gaddafi announced that it would bring true democracy with all participating, eliminate class distinctions and form

1395-555: The only remaining member but continued to call itself "the UAR" (thereby implying it was open for unification with other Arab countries), but it eventually renamed itself the "Arab Republic of Egypt" in 1973. Also in 1958, a Hashemite -led rival, the Arab Federation , was founded between Jordan and Iraq . Tensions with the UAR and the 14 July Revolution made the Arab Federation collapse after only six months. Another attempt,

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1440-566: The people at the Zuwarah speech, but he instead surprised them with his declaration of the Cultural Revolution. This made Gaddafi the uncontested leader of Libya. After Libya was converted into the " (Great) Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya " in 1977, the remaining members of the RCC formed the apex of the "revolutionary sector" that oversaw the government. They were not subject to election, since they held office by virtue of having led

1485-422: The promotion of pan-Islamism , the sectarian and social differences within the different Arab societies; the competition between different Arab leaders to be the leading voice for the Arab and Islamic worlds; and, to a lesser extent, military defeat against an enemy force. The promotion of pan-Islamism had been a key aspect within Arab and Muslim societies. Such philosophy dictated for a united Islamic ‘Ummah’ or

1530-407: The societies propelled pan-Islamism to defeat alternative thoughts such as pan-Arabism. Various sectarian and social differences within the various Arab societies was another fueling factor for pan-Arabism's decline. Sporadic Sunni and Shia religious divide exacerbated by internal and foreign factors caused reconsideration within Arab circles as to whether pan-Arabism was viable although the issue

1575-526: The start it was dominated by the opinions and decisions of Gaddafi, although some of the others attempted to constrain what they saw as his excesses. As chairman of the RCC, Gaddafi was officially entitled the Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic. The 1969 Constitutional Proclamation granted the RCC powers to declare war, conclude and ratify treaties, appoint diplomatic envoys, receive diplomatic missions, proclaim martial law , control

1620-668: The terminal started in 1964, and was completed in 1966. The Marsa El Hariega oil terminal was officially inaugurated by exporting the first shipment of crude oil from Sarir in 1967. The crude from Sarir is pumped through a 400 km pipeline, with an auxiliary pumping station between Sarir and the terminal. Marsa El Hariga has three berths with a loading capacity of 8,000 tons/hour for tankers of up to 120,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT). The Arabian Gulf Oil Company announced plans to use oil funds to support anti-Gaddafi forces . Libyan Revolutionary Command Council The Revolutionary Command Council ( Arabic : مجلس قيادة الثورة )

1665-630: The then less strategically valuable south, but lost his Caliphate throne when the kingdom was sacked by the Najdi Ikhwan forces of the Saudites and forcefully incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . A more formalized pan-Arab ideology than that of Hussein was first espoused in the 1930s, notably by Syrian thinkers such as Constantin Zureiq , Sati' al-Husri , Zaki al-Arsuzi , and Michel Aflaq . Aflaq and al-Arsuzi were key figures in

1710-485: The time, What is most significant is the absence of an Arab component in early Egyptian nationalism. The thrust of Egyptian political, economic, and cultural development throughout the nineteenth century worked against, rather than for, an 'Arab' orientation. ... This situation—that of divergent political trajectories for Egyptians and Arabs—if anything increased after 1900. It was not until Gamal Abdel Nasser that Arab nationalism (in addition to Arab socialism ) became

1755-576: The universal written and official language throughout the Arab world, instead of adoption of local dialects in the various countries. Zaydan wrote several articles during the early 20th century which emphasized that Arabic-speaking regions stretching from the Maghreb to the Persian Gulf constitute one people with a shared national consciousness and that this linguistic bond trumped religious, racial and specific territorial bonds, inspired in part by his status as

1800-504: The wealthy, highly educated conservatives who had previously governed the country. The coup completed, the RCC proceeded with their intentions of consolidating the revolutionary government and modernising the country. Monarchists and members of Idris' Senussi clan were removed from Libya's political world and armed forces; Gaddafi believed that this elite were opposed to the will of the Libyan people and needed to be expunged. Many figures in

1845-514: Was a twelve-member governing body that ruled the Libyan Arab Republic after the 1969 Libyan coup d'état by the Free Officers Movement , which overthrew the Senussi monarchy of King Idris I . The council's chairman was Muammar Gaddafi , who had the most influence and served as Libya's de facto head of state as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic and commander-in-chief of

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1890-457: Was followed by specific proposals from pro-British leaders, including King Abdullah of Transjordan and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said of Iraq, but Egyptian proposals for a broader grouping of independent Arab states prevailed with the establishment of the League of Arab States, a regional international organization, in 1945. In large part representing the popularity Nasser had gained among the masses in

1935-451: Was led by rival factions of the Ba'ath Party , which continues to espouse pan-Arabism and is organized in several other countries. The decline of pan-Arabism is attributed to several factors. Problems persisted over a wide range of issues since the inception of pan-Arabist philosophy in the late 1800s, which, until its decline, had kept pan-Arabism on course for causal failure. The factors include:

1980-451: Was recognized as both chairman of the RCC as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces , becoming the de facto head of state. From 1970 to 1972, he also served as prime minister. The RCC was declared the highest authority in the Libyan Arab Republic with the ability to exercise both executive and legislative functions. Although the RCC was theoretically a collegial body that operated through discussion and consensus building, from

2025-411: Was religiously oriented. Social differences toed a similar line. Countries like Lebanon and Syria considered secular brought about a clash of thought with the likes of religious Saudi Arabia , whose longstanding promotion of religion was contradictory to the goals of the secular hierarchy within the two Levantine countries, for example. Different Arab leaders competed to become the leading voices for

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