Total hires UK lawyer on White Nile, South Sudan oil dispute

LONDON, July 19, 2005 (Dow Jones) — Total SA (TOT) has hired a senior U.K. lawyer to independently confirm its claim on a potentially rich South Sudan oil block disputed with U.K.-based White Nile Ltd. (WNL.LN), a spokesman for the French oil major said Tuesday.

Gas flaring at an oil terminal of Eguatu, Warri-South, Niger Delta. (AFP).

In February, U.K. oil minnow White Nile announced it had been awarded a large oil block by South Sudan’s autonomous government. But Total disputes the claim, saying it was previously awarded a license on the same area by Sudan’s central authorities.

The disputed Block Ba, is a 67,000-kilometer tract within Block B, an area the size of Greece thought to contain large reserves of oil.

Total “has asked a Queen’s Counsel” to provide an independent legal assessment of its claim, the spokesman said.

White Nile has provided “improper information to the (U.K.) markets” by saying it owns the acreage in its circular published in May, the Total spokesman said.

The spokesman reiterated the company’s claim on the block and said it has also hired Sudanese lawyers to study the matter. He said legal action was being considered.

Other than contacts through lawyers to reaffirm its right on the block, Total isn’t holding any discussions of any nature with White Nile, he added.

Company Web site: http://www.total.com