Sudan oil commission to hold meeting Monday
Feb 4, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The National Petroleum Commission is due to meet on Monday to review reports of the Ministers of Finance and Energy and Mining on the oil production in the past year and the current year 2006.
The oil commission is co-chaired by al-Beshir and the president of the southern Sudan government. It is to include equal numbers of representatives from both the national government and the southern government and oil producing states of Sudan.
The Commission is expected to treat the knotty question of the real amount of oil produced in Sudan. The northern oil minister puts oil production at around 330,000 barrels per day (bpd), but the SPLM says it could be as high as 450,000 bpd.
In a press statement after the meeting of the National Petroleum Commission Saturday at the premises of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Finance, al-Zubair Ahmed al-Hassan, said that the Commission has set up a joint committee to discuss details related to its internal regulation and the coordination of work, in accordance with the Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so as to be reviewed and approved in the coming meeting of the Commission on Monday.
The minister said that the Commission’s meeting on Monday will review an agreement with a company from the Republic of South African for oil exploration in the Northern State.
Last week, the spokesperson for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan, Radhia Achouri, said in a press conference that Pronk was not satisfied with the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and especially with performance of the key institutions such as Petroleum Commission.
On 28 January, First Vice-President said in a press release held in Khartoum “We still have not got the real share of the oil revenues,” adding there were differences over the amount of oil produced in Sudan.
(ST)