Sudan partners agree on new deal over Total-White Nile block
May 31, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s partners in the government of national unity reportedly sealed a deal to resolve the row over an oil concession awarded to the French Total by the federal government and to a UK small firm by Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS).
Various reports say that a new consortium is being created. Under the terms of this deal, 25% of the concession will go to the government of Southern Sudan, 25% to Total, 15% to the national oil company (Sudapet), 15% to White Nile Company and 20% to the Southern Sudan oil company (Nilepet).
But the Juba based newspaper, the Citizen, said that Total Oil Company rejected the proposed deal while the White Nile appeared in agreement with it.
In an editorial about the issue, Alfred Taban, the Editor in Chief of Khartoum Monitor, said that the southern Sudan people were the ultimate loser in this deal. Taban said that the Southern Sudan government has violated the terms of the CPA by allowing the White Nile to continue working in the area.
He added that the White Nile turned out to be “an opportunity for the National Congress to hit at GOSS and SPLM”. The small British firm “had become a hot potato just like Abyei issue” Taban said.
The oil rich area of Abyei and the White Nile contract issue were among the issues examined by the technical committee formed by the NCP and SPLM to resolve difficulties in the peace agreement’s implementation.
In light of the fall in the Company’s share price, the White Nile has asked the GoSS to immediately issue a statement outlining the new agreement they reached, with regard to oil exploration and production issues in Southern Sudan.
The White Nile oil company expressed confidence in a statement released today “of a positive outcome and hopes that it will be able to provide further information, as soon as possible, on its rights in Block Ba.”
The British firm further said it has temporarily suspended activity on its exploration well, Kedelai-1, in the Jonglei state due to the start of the rainy season. They said that drilling will resume in the fourth quarter of this year.
However sources told the Citizen that the White Nile activities have actually been suspended indefinitely. At the same time Acuil Malith Bangol, White Nile’s social and political consultant, told Reuters the company had received a letter on May 19 from South Sudan President Salva Kiir ordering a suspension of its operations.
The two partners of the national unity government have adjourned a meeting that supposed to adopt a compromise over the two issues: Abyei and the White Nile. However they did not set a new date for the meeting.
(ST)