Sudan’s oil output to reach 195 bpd by end of 2012
February 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – North Sudan’s output of oil is expected to ascend to 195 barrel per day by the end of next year, the country’s oil ministry has announced.
The projection was declared on Sunday by the state minister for oil, Ali Ahmad Osman, who said that north Sudan’s oil production would reach 195 barrel per day by the end 2012, as reported by Sudan’s official news agency.
North Sudan currently produces only 100,000-110,000 bpd of Sudan’s overall daily output of 500,000 barrels. The rest is pumped from oilfields in south Sudan region which seceded from the north in a referendum vote whose outcome will officially take effect in July this year.
Ali Ahmad Osman made his statement while inspecting Balila oilfield in South Kordofan, which lies in north Sudan.
The minister revealed that the ministry had devised a plan to increase the production of the oilfield, which is operated by the Khartoum-based Petro Energy, to reach 100 barrel a day by the beginning of 2012.
According to the junior minister, South Korodfan area currently produces 60.000 barrels a day.
Meanwhile, the committee of energy and mining at the National Parliament has announced that the operations of oil exploration in each of the Nile River State in northern Sudan, Al-Jazzirah State in central Sudan and Kordofan are due to begin in April.
The head of the committee’s oil subdivision, Yasir Abu Kasawi, told the Sudan Media Center (SMC) website on Saturday that the Sudanese-Egyptian Petro Company Sudapak would start the drilling operation in the respective states in April, immediately after concluding geological surveys.
North Sudan, which currently depends on oil revenues for some 45% of its budget, is scrambling to find other sources of income to make up for the loss of billions of dollars as a result of south Sudan secession.
However, the north will still be able to gain profits from using its pipeline infrastructure and refineries to export South Sudan’s oil.
(ST)