South Sudan freezes White Nile oil activities, orders probe

May 30, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The president of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir has ordered a freeze on oil exploration in Jonglei state. Kiir also formed a committee to investigate the White Nile oil company, the controversial British oil explorer headed by ex-England cricketer Phil Edmonds.

The daily Al-Sahafa newspaper reported from Juba that the White Nile was officially informed last Friday of Kiir’s decision. The British Oil company also had drilling rig imported recently from Eastern Europe confiscated.

The White Nile Oil Company had started operating in a disputed 67,000 square km (25,870 sq mile) concession on April 19.

Al-Sahafa said that Kiir formed a committee to probe the details of the White Nile contract. It is believed that few people have any knowledge of the contract details since it was signed with the SPLM Civil authority before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005.

A former official at the SPLM office in UK, Yei Joseph, and the coordinator from the Bor area group who voiced opposition to the project, said that Salva Kiir has suspended the White Nile activities following of a letter they submitted to him.

Joseph said that local communities are opposed to oil firms working in the region without respecting the rights of local population as stipulated in the CPA.

The White Nile Oil Company which is 50 percent owned by south Sudan’s state petroleum firm Nilepet, has estimated that it has up to 5 billion barrels of oil in its concession, but may take up to four years before oil starts flowing.

The same block was part of a larger concession awarded to Total by the Khartoum government before the country’s 21-year north-south civil war, which ended with a 2005 peace agreement that gave the south semi-autonomous status.

The former southern rebels who now dominate the government of south Sudan divided up Total’s block and assigned a portion of it to White Nile.

(ST)