Sudan Nile Blend crude output still down

September 12, 2007 (NEW DELHI) — Sudan’s Nile Blend crude output is still down 15 percent after last month’s floods and is expected to return to normal by end-October, a senior official at India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) said on Wednesday.

The floods, described by Sudanese officials as the worst in living memory, have affected blocks 1/2/4 where Nile Blend crude is produced and full output of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) has yet to be restored, the official said.

“Production is still down by around 15 percent. Repair work is on. It will take four to six weeks from now to get back to normal and restore production at earlier levels of 250,000 bpd,” the official who declined to be identified told Reuters.

This leaves output during the period at around 212,000 bpd.

India’s ONGC has a 25 percent stake in Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co (GNPOC) that operates blocks 1/2/4, which produces the low-sulphur, light sweet Nile Blend crude.

Other partners are state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) with a 40 percent stake, while Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas owns 30 percent. Five percent belongs to Sudan’s state-owned Sudapet.

It was unclear whether this would lead to lower exports, or whether Sudan would process less domestic crude instead, to ensure steady export flows.

CNPC’s in-house newspaper China Petroleum News reported in August that the blocks, and blocks 3/7 where Dar Blend crude is produced, had been hit by the floods.

But a Chinese source familiar with Sudan’s exports later said Sudan would keep exporting crude at a rate of around 400,000 bpd until the end of September.

“It is too early to say but our October cargo might be affected. The September cargo is already under processing, so I don’t think it will be affected,” the ONGC source said.

Heavy sweet Nile Blend crude is exported to Asia, with Japan and China the two largest buyers of the direct-burning grade.

The field’s output has been slowly declining from a peak of around 325,000 bpd when it first started.

(Reuters)