"Unlike energy produced in most African states, nearly all of Libya’s oil and natural gas is produced onshore. This reduces development costs but increases the chances that political instability could impact output — and Libya has been anything but stable of late. Libya’s 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil output can be broken into two categories. The first comes from a basin in the country’s western extreme and is exported from a single major hub just west of Tripoli. The second basin is in the country’s eastern region and is exported from a variety of facilities in eastern cities. At the risk of oversimplifying, Libya’s population is split in half: Leader Moammar Gadhafi’s power base is in Tripoli in the extreme west, the opposition is concentrated in Benghazi in the east, with a 600 kilometer-wide gulf of nearly empty desert in between. This effectively gives the country two political factions, two energy-producing basins, two oil output infrastructures. Economically at least, the seeds of protracted conflict — regardless of what happens with Gadhafi or any political changes after he departs — have already been sown." (STRATFOR)
"A new memoir from an embittered former aide to Sarah Palin includes a trove of emails that vividly illustrate her intense focus on image and depiction in the media. The emails, apparently from the former Alaska governor, portray Palin as nearly obsessed with her political adversaries and consumed with every slight, real or perceived. The still-unpublished manuscript, obtained by POLITICO, reveals Palin, as a candidate for governor, penning letters-to-the-editor in praise of herself, to be sent under other names. It blames the candidate for inflaming, rather than ignoring, scurrilous rumors. And it quotes her pledging to avoid appearing on any network other than Fox News, referring to the rest as 'the bad guys.'" (Politico)
"On Sunday night I was invited to a friend’s for dinner. Among the guests was a man named Martin Summers. Martin is a very prominent international fine art dealer – although from the sound of it he knows how get away for awhile. I’d heard of him but had never met him or even seen him before. He’s a very cool guy in presentation. Friendly and hail fellow well met. He looks like the type might have hung around with guys like Cary Grant and David Niven. Or Ian Fleming. (Except he wasn't old enough.) You can kind of see it in the image ...I don’t know how we got on the subject but he told me about spending time at Spin while here in New York. I had heard of Spin, the name, but knew nothing about it. Spin is a club where you can play ping pong, located in the Flatiron District. Huge, 13,000 square feet, sixteen courts, a bar, a restaurant, private rooms, events, tournaments, and Susan Sarandon as one of the partners. (There are Spins also in Hollywood, Milwaukee and Toronto.) There are memberships and also you can rent the table. It is evident that ping pong is now a very chic indoor sport. Summers has a group in London who meet at appointed times to play in a private club. Along with their vodka martinis. One night in his travels he was seated next to a very beautiful, very young Korean woman. He was quite taken with her beauty. When inquiring about him, she asked if he played ping pong. Well, as a matter of fact .... He began. 'And do you?' he asked politely. 'Number three in the world!' she replied, returning to her soup." (NYSocialDiary)
"Sylvester Stallone may trade weapons for paintbrushes permanently. At the opening of his first exhibition at Galerie Gmurzynska in St. Moritz, the 'Rambo' and 'Rocky' action star was overheard saying he believes himself to be a much better painter than actor. The beefy Stallone said of his talents, 'If you feel a passion for something, you can move mountains.' Galerie Gmurzynska is showing 30 of Stallone's abstract works painted over the past 35 years, and nearly all of the works in the show have sold for prices ranging from $50,000 to $150,000." (PageSix)
"On the last night of fashion week, it's tough to rally even the most devoted of night owls—that is, unless you're L'Wren Scott. The designer and her stylish flock—Ellen Barkin, Christina Hendricks, Rachel Feinstein Currin, and Scott's main squeeze, Mick Jagger, included—took over a corner of the Mark Restaurant for a private dinner, and their presence didn't go unnoticed. During cocktail hour, a restaurant diner boldly approached the Rolling Stones front man to pose for a photo, and in a classy move, the rock star obliged." (Style)
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