S. Sudan: Foreign oil companies sign transitional agreement
By Julius N. Uma
January 13, 2011 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s petroleum and mining ministry and foreign oil companies on Friday completed the historic signing of a transitional agreement, just days after they accused north Sudan of illegally possessing their crude oil entitlements.
Five foreign oil companies, which included Petroliam Nasional Berhad
(PETRONAS), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), China
Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), Tri-Ocean energy and
Nile Petroleum (NILEPET) a locally owned company, also finalised
agreements with South Sudan’s petroleum ministry.
However, to strengthen bi-lateral ties and cooperation between China
and the newly independent South Sudan, both nations further signed a
number of documents.
The linked agreements include:
– An agreement on training between CNPC and the South Sudan national
ministry of petroleum and mining;
– A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government of the
Republic of South Sudan and that of the Peoples’ Republic of China
concerning sending a Chinese medical team to work in South Sudan;
– MoU for economic and financial cooperation between the government of
the Republic of South Sudan represented by the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning and the Export-Import Bank of China;
– An agreement witnessing the handover certificate of the borehole
drilling project aided by the Chinese government to South Sudan;
– An agreement on the exchange of letters on the donation of a grant
to South Sudan to be provided by the Chinese government.
The signing of these agreements was the climax of the much-anticipated visit to
Juba by a high level Chinese delegation led by Li Yuanchao, a senior member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) political bureau.
Li is the first senior Chinese official to visit South Sudan since the latter gained independence from the Republic of Sudan on 9 July last year, with China being among one of the first countries that recognised it.
On arrival, however, the team, which comprised of top CPC members,
government officials and businessmen first held talks with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir before engaging in bilateral discussions with senior Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) members, headed by its Secretary General, Pagan Amum.
Details of what transpired between the Chinese delegation and the
South Sudan leader were not made readily available to the media.
Addressing the media shortly after the occasion, Antipas Nyok, SPLM
Secretary for Political Affairs lauded the Chinese government for its
continued support towards South Sudan, adding that the southern
government will fully cooperate with its Chinese counterpart.
Ai Ping, a member of the CPC central committee, emphasized the importance of stronger ties between the two countries and pledged the Chinese government’s commitment to help the newly independent South Sudan in its post-war recovery efforts.
(ST).