Sudan President forms taskforce to review oil production

March 13, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan President Omer Al-Bashir has formed a high-level committee to select a foreign firm to review figures of oil production in Sudan during the last five years in order to “refute allegations” of non-transparency in the oil-sector.

Figures of oil production provided by Sudan have in the past been brought under question and fuelled mistrust with south Sudan which produces most of the country’s proven daily output of 500,000 barrels a day.

North and South Sudan have been splitting proceeds of crude oil roughly 50:50 as per 2005’s peace deal which ended nearly half a century of north-south civil war and allowed the south to vote for secession from the north in a referendum earlier this year. South Sudan will be declared officially independent in July this year.

The high-level committee would be chaired by the minster of oil Lual Deng, who represents South Sudan’s ruling party, SPLM, and include as members the federal auditor and auditor of the South Sudan government.

Its task is to select a “foreign company” to carry out a review of the oil produced in Sudan from 2005 until December 2010.

Lual Deng told the official SUNA that the President had instructed the committee to complete its mission before 8 July in order to “achieve transparency and refute allegations raised by some quarters.”

An anti-corruption NGO based in the UK, Global Witness, in September 2009 published a report identifying significant discrepancies between the oil production figures published by the Sudanese government and the ones published by the leading oil company operating in the country, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), saying figures released by Sudan were smaller by 9% to 26% than those produced by CNPC.

The same organization this year released another report in which it urged north and south Sudan to strike a new oil-sharing deal which includes provisions for “transparency, independent monitoring and a dispute resolution mechanism,” before the south becomes independent in July.

Separately, Lual said that he had briefed President Al-Bashir on the currently-active oilfields whose production ranges from 450 to 500 barrels per day, as well as ongoing operations to improve existing fields and conduct more exploration activities and studies for new squares.

The minister further revealed ongoing arrangements to contract a UAE-based company to carry out an assessment of Sudan’s oil reserves.

Sudan said this month that the total net revenues of its oil production in January reached 461, 43 million US dollars of which south Sudan will receive 192, 78 million US dollars.

In a related development, the secretary-general of the ministry of oil in Sudan, Mohamed Omar, said on Sunday that his ministry wants oil companies to increase production.

He said that the ministry is willing to remove all obstacles facing oil companies in order to increase oil production and exploration in the country.

(ST)