Saudi Arabia will supply oil to Sudan at preferential price
May 7, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Saudi Arabia will supply oil to Sudan for the next five years at preferential prices, disclosed a Sudanese minister on Monday.
Sudan’s oil minister Abdel Rahman Osman said according to the agreement which will be signed in the upcoming days Saudi Arabia will provide Sudan with 1.8 million tonnes of oil a year.
The deal aims to fill Sudan’s fuel consumption gap as the country has experienced an acute fuel shortage during the past weeks due to the lack of hard currency to buy oil from the international market.
The minister who just returned from Riyadh said the agreement will be signed after the completion of the procedures with the Saudi Development Bank which will guarantee the credit.
He just added that the procedures will take “several days” without further details.
The government has been under strong pressure from the opposition parties for its participation in the Saudi-led alliance which wages war against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Khartoum was criticised for the poor financial support provided by the oil-rich Gulf monarchies to the country despite its significant involvement in the Yemeni conflict.
The criticism prompted the Saudi ambassador in Khartoum to hold a press conference to say his country would sign a number of defence and economic cooperation agreements with Sudan very soon.
(ST)