Russian company optimistic over prospective oil and gas reserves in Sudan
January 1, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – A Russian petroleum firm announced that their studies confirm the existence of large reserves of oil and gas in central Sudan and other parts of the country.
The revelation was made during a meeting between the Sudanese oil minister Makkawi Mohamed Awad and a delegation from Siberia Petroleum Corporation led by its CEO Vladimir Dukov.
Dukov affirmed his company’s desire to invest in the exploration of oil and gas starting with several blocs and using a new Russian technology which reduces the time and cost for extracting the crude.
He mentioned that a group of Russian scientists conducted a comprehensive study on Sudan which showed significant oil and gas reserves.
The Russian CEO presented a proposal for building a factory in Sudan that would manufacture exploration equipment and would be the only one of its kind in Africa.
Awad on his end expressed readiness to provide any help or assistance to achieve a useful partnership between Sudan and Russia.
Last October, former oil minister Awad Ahmed al-Jazz flew to Moscow to lure Russia into investing in Sudan’s energy sector which is currently dominated by China, India and Malaysia.
Sudan is seeking to boost its oil production which was severely curtailed after the secession of the oil-rich south in July 2011.
The partition threw Sudan into a financial crisis which forced it to adopt unpopular austerity measures that sparked protests across the country in mid-2012 and September 2013.
(ST)