Sudan Predicts 17% Increase to Northern Oil Production From New Fields
Northern Sudan plans to boost oil production by 20,000 barrels per day when newly discovered fields come into operation by mid-2012, said Ali Ahmed Osman, Sudan’s minister of state for oil.
The discoveries were in Block 2 in Southern Kordofan, the only oil-producing state in northern Sudan, Osman told reporters today in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. “By the end of this year, we will start tying in these fields,” Osman said.
The block is run by Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. The company is owned by China National Petroleum Corp., which has a 40 percent stake; Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, with a 30 percent stake; India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., which has 25 percent; and Sudan’s state-owned oil company, Sudapet, which has a 5 percent stake.
The planned increase would add 17 percent to the north’s current daily output, which Osman said is 115,000 barrels. The rest of Sudan’s oil production of 490,000 barrels per day is pumped in Southern Sudan, which is scheduled to be declared independent from Sudan on July 9.
In Block 6, stretching from Southern Kordofan into South Darfur state, Northern Sudan plans to add another 40,000 barrels per day by mid-2014 to the current production of 60,000 barrels per day. The block is operated by Petro Energy E&P, which is 95 percent owned by CNPC and 5 percent owned by Sudapet.
“The geological structure” shows it is probable that oil will also be discovered in South Darfur state, Osman said.
The Justice and Equality Movement, the largest rebel group in the Darfur region, said they would attack companies if they attempt to start oil exploration in the war-torn western area.
Sudan’s forces have been fighting rebels in Darfur since 2003, when insurgents took up arms, accusing the government of neglecting the region. The conflict has led to the deaths of as many as 300,000 people, mainly due to illness and starvation, and forced about 2.7 million to flee their homes, according to United Nations estimates. The Sudanese government has put the death toll at about 10,000.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maram Mazen in Khartoum at mmazen@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net.
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