New oil exploration announced

The National Chinese Petroleum Company said oil exploration had begun in southern Sudan, with new upstream activities in the White Nile river region and the Upper Nile areas. In a press release, the company said oil exploration was being carried out in an area of 72,400 square km. It follows successful exploration started in 1996 after joint work with the company's partners and other parties, the statement said. Last November, the Sudanese government signed an agreement with a new oil consortium which groups four oil companies, the official news agency SUNA said. Qatar's Gulf Petroleum Company comprised 46 percent of the consortium, and the National Chinese and Thani company of the United Arab Emirates hold 23 percent along with the Sudanese Petroleum Company, SUNA said.

Meanwhile, SUNA said on 9 March that Germany wanted to buy oil and agricultural products from Sudan as part of a bilateral commercial cooperation. The German charge d'affaires in Khartoum said the volume of commercial exchange between Sudan and Germany had seen a 60 percent growth during 1999-2000.