South Sudan considering trimming sizes of blocks

South Sudan considering trimming sizes of blocks
278 words
16 March 2007
Upstream
06
English
(c) 2007, Upstream. To read more Upstream stories you can get a FREE two-week trial of LIVE news, Upstream Hardcopy and Upstream archive news at www.upstreamonline.com. Do note that all Upstream articles are protected by copyright. Any unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited.

BLOCK sizes in southern Sudan and possibly throughout the whole country could be reduced for new licences said the Government of National Unity’s State Minister for Energy & Mining Angelina Teny, writes Barry Morgan.

“Currently they are ridiculously large and there is no way companies can effectively cover the area – it slows exploration and we will have to look at faster relinquishment in the context of fresh licensing activity,” she said.

A new petroleum law has been drafted for the whole country, not just the south, she revealed, but it must first pass through the National Petroleum Commission, the Ministry of Energy & Mines and the National Assembly before final approval. “This is one of our key priorities at the National Petroleum Commission,” she said.

Asked about the delays to setting up the commission, of which she is representative board member, Teny said there was no real reason for further delay since capacity building could go hand in hand with inauguration. “If the political will is there, the Commission could become operational tomorrow,” she said.

Teny is also the wife of the Government of South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar Teny, an ethnic Nuer who led one of the rebel militia during the 22-year civil war, which officially ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on January 2005.

She agreed that regarding inviting companies to participate in South Sudan’s E&P drive, not everything was in place.

“Not everything is hunky-dory, of course,” she said.