French oil group Total to return to Sudan: minister

KHARTOUM, Jan 16 (AFP) — French energy group Total will resume oil exploration in Sudan early this year, more than 20 years after its pullout because of the civil war, a Sudanese minister said Friday.

Industry Minister Jalal Yousuf al-Digair told a press conference “Total will begin oil exploration activities during the first third of this year on its concession in Bor Basin, which is believed to be rich in oil.”

The company interrupted in 1983 its search in the Bor Basin Block B acreage, in the southern province of Jonglei, because of the outbreak of the southern rebellion.

Khartoum and the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army on January 7 signed a deal on sharing the oil-rich country’s wealth, a key component of efforts to end 20 years of civil war.

But the two sides are still locked in delicate talks over elements of power-sharing and the future status of three disputed areas in the centre of Sudan.

Digair was speaking at a press conference with French Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos who predicted an increase in trade with Sudan if the civil war ends.

“After peace is achieved and the French companies become aware of the importance of the Sudanese market, this trade exchage volume will certainly grow,” Loos said.

Loos, the first French minister to be in Sudan for several years, attended Thursday the annual international fair of Khartoum. Of the 46 French companies that took part, one third had never come to Sudan before, he said.

Loos discussed the peace process Thursday with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.