We investigated the recently found superconductor LaFeAsO1-xFx by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). A shift in the chemical potential is visible in both the Fe L2,3 and O K edge spectra which emphasizes the importance of band effects and moderate correlations in these compounds. From experimental Fe L2,3 edge spectra and charge transfer multiplet calculations we gain further information on important physical values such as hopping parameters, the charge transfer energy Delta, and the on-site Hubbard U. Furthermore we find the system to be very covalent with a large amount of ligand holes.