Sudan talking to US over end to sanctions – minister

May 27, 2008 (SEOUL) — Sudan is in talks with the U.S. about lifting economic sanctions, Sudan’s finance minister said Tuesday, offering a glimmer of hope to U.S. investors locked out of Africa’s biggest country by land mass.

“There is a discussion on that. I see some positive signals,” Awad Ahmed Eljazz told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview in Seoul, without elaborating.

Sudan’s proven oil reserves of 6.4 billion barrels are among the largest in Africa, and the country has been a major recipient of energy-related investment from countries including China and Malaysia.

However, U.S. oil companies have been unable to keep assets in Sudan because of Washington’s sanctions, putting them at a disadvantage to peers from countries that are continuing to do business with Khartoum.

One of the latest U.S. companies to exit Sudan was Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO), which said last month it had sold its stake in a southern block to Total SA (TOT) of France because of the U.S. sanctions.

Sudan is blacklisted by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism, putting it alongside North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Cuba as states that have incurred Washington’s opprobrium.

Eljazz said Sudan’s daily crude oil output is likely to exceed its current level of 500,000 barrels by the end of this year.

“The country currently has three producing blocks and 23 blocks are being worked on,” he said.

Higher oil production, much of which is shipped to Asia, would bolster the case for Sudan joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Sudan is continuing to study whether it will be able to change its status as an Opec observer to that of a full member country of the organization, the minister said.

“The government is currently in the process of studying it,” said the minister.

Eljazz is part of a Sudanese delegation visiting Seoul, which includes President Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir.

At a press conference Tuesday, Al-Bashir said there are a lot of investment opportunities in Sudan, particularly in developing raw materials, and the door was open to South Korean companies.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and the Sudanese president held summit talks in Seoul Monday. Lee asked for Khartoum’s support for Korean companies looking to join projects such as the upgrading of refineries in the area close to the Red Sea, the presidential office said.

(Dow Jones)