Amazing. Khaddaffi is no longer a terrorist!

ct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The world's biggest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and Chevron Corp., are among 47 corporations that qualified to bid in Libya's third auction of oil drilling rights.

Libya will auction the permits on Dec. 20. They give the permit holder the right to search for oil and gas in 14 offshore and onshore sites, covering a total area of 99,437 square kilometers (38,400 square miles), almost the size of Cuba.

A list of 47 companies that qualified to make offers was published on the Web site of Libya's state-owned National Oil Corp. They were chosen from among 70 oil companies and investors that had expressed interest, it said.

The site of Africa's largest oil reserves, Libya wants to attract $30 billion of investment to increase production this decade to 3 million barrels of oil a day, from 1.7 million barrels a day now. Two years ago, the U.S. eased sanctions against Libya, imposed after terrorism accusations in 1986, allowing for the return of U.S. oil companies.

The list of the companies that will be allowed to bid includes U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Marathon Oil Corp. and Hess Corp. Contenders also come from Europe, Russia, Asia, Canada, Australia, South America and Africa.

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