19 December 2011, Sweetcrude, KHARTOUM – Sudan says it will put six new oil and gas blocks on offer early in the new year for companies to operate.
Oil Minister Awad al-Jaz disclosed this on Monday, listing the blocks as Blocks 8, B12, 14, 18, 10 and 15, Reuters reported.
The development may have been informed by the need for Sudan to compensate for the loss of the crude-producing south to a newly-independent state.
Sudan has been aiming to boost crude production since South Sudan split off in July under a 2005 peace deal, taking about three quarters of the formerly united country’s roughly 500,000 barrels per day of oil output with it.
Oil is the lifeblood of both economies, but the two sides have still not worked out how much South Sudan should pay to export its oil through pipelines running through Sudan to a Red Sea port.
Jaz said the dispute with South Sudan would not affect the six new blocks.
“The blocks on offer are not related to South Sudan. All of them are in Sudan in areas that have not seen armed conflict and have no connection to the outstanding issues with South Sudan,” he told reporters.
More information would be provided at a conference scheduled for 15 January, Jaz added.
Companies are expected to work in the blocks in consortia with Sudan’s national oil company Sudapet. Tax and customs exemptions would be offered to companies in the consortia
