Sudan’s oil production drops to 129,000 (bpd): minister

May 24, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum Wednesday disclosed that oil production has declined due to large cuts in the budgets of the producing companies which resulted from the global fall in oil price.

Last March, former petroleum minister Mohamed Zaid said oil industry is facing significant challenges including the declining production and the depletion of a number of oil wells and fields.

The newly appointed petroleum minister Abdel-Rahman Osman said in a testimony before the parliament Wednesday that “the country’s oil production fell to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) which represent 75% of the targeted production in 2016”.

He attributed the decline to the budget cuts due to a global drop in oil price besides the large volumes of water produced with the oil, stressing that Sudan’s oil reserves rose by 15.6 million barrels.

The minister said revenues from the sale of domestic crude amounted to 7.1 billion pounds (SDG) (about $388 million) last year, pointing that to 8 million barrels of crude oil have been produced during the first quarter of this year.

Sudan lost 75% of its oil reserves after the southern part of the country became an independent nation in July 2011, denying the north billions of dollars in revenues. Oil revenue constituted more than half of the Sudan’s revenue and 90% of its exports.

Last year, Sudan’s oil production stood at 133,000 (bpd). The country’s production is stationed mainly in the Heglig area and its surroundings, as well as western Kordofan.
Following South Sudan’s secession, several foreign companies started exploration in new oil fields.

(ST)