Sudan rejects accusations of manipulations in oil revenue figures

September 26, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s oil minister on Saturday dismissed accusations by an international group about manipulations in the figures of oil revenue during the last few years.

The London based Global Witness said in a report published on September 6 that the oil production figures put out by Khartoum government are lower than those put out by the main Chinese operator of Sudan’s oil fields, China National Petroleum Corporation. The report further stressed that there is a difference of figures ranging from 9 to 26% in oil blocks located in Southern Sudan.

The Sudanese presidency upon the demand of Juba government ordered the national ministry of energy and mining to verify the revenue figures it received from oil producers.

Sudan’s Minister of Energy and Mining Al-Zubair Ahmed Hassan in a press conference held today in Khartoum rejected the findings of Global Witness as “inaccurate” stressing that the oil revenues are managed at all levels by a joint mechanism between the federal government and the southern Sudan government besides foreign observers.

“The report of Global Witness group depended on inaccurate information and had not asked the Sudanese government about the real situation,” he further said.

Hassan added the report focuses on the transport and administrative costs which are included in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005.

He reaffirmed the readiness of his ministry to cooperate with the “known technical organisms” in order to preserve the peace agreement.

The Southern Sudan government in its weekly meeting on Friday September 11 resolved the need to establish an independent audit, possibly an international one, to look into the discrepancies for confirmation.

The two peace partners in accordance with the peace agreement share half-half the revenue of the oil produced in southern Sudan.

Oil plays a major role in the Sudanese economy. In 2008, oil represented 95 percent of export revenues and 60 percent of government revenues. For South Sudan (Juba), oil represented 98 percent of total revenues for the year compared to Khartoum at 65 percent.

(ST)