The companies, partners in a former energy exploration venture called the Oasis Group, said they had reached a deal with the Libyan National Oil Corporation to pay it $1.3 billion to re-enter and extend the concessions.
Play serves primarily the former, and exploration serves primarily the latter.
Three are former senior-exploration managers from Fina, Total and Amerada Hess and one is the former head of alternative fuels, and subsequently renewables, at Shell.
No information about this tomb nor documentation of former archaeological explorations were known, although KV 31 has possibly been visited already by Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778 1823) in 1817 and perhaps also by Victor Loret (1859 1946) or his team in 1898.
The Saudi executive, Sadad al-Husseini, a former head of exploration for the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, has been making such claims for years.
"Saudi Arabia and OPEC have always delivered what the market required," said Sadad Ibrahim Al-Husseini, former head of exploration and production at Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil company.
"Diplomacy based on oil is simply ridiculous," said Ignacio Layrisse, former head of exploration and production at the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela.
"The bankers are speculating, protecting themselves from higher prices by committing obligations to buy now, and that starts the ball rolling toward higher prices," said Sadad Ibrahim al-Husseini, former head of exploration and production at Saudi Aramco, the state oil company.
"China and Japan and South Korea are looking for assurances that there will be additional supplies from the Arabian Gulf producers," said Sadad Ibrahim al-Husseini, former head of exploration and development at Saudi Aramco, the national oil company.
In fact, it is a bit of everything, and Shell has been linked by the City with the possible acquisition of the former British Gas exploration arm for years.
