Explosion halts Talisman's Sudan pipeline - Canadian Press, September 20
CALGARY (CP) -- Talisman Energy Inc. says an explosion -- which it described as "a minor incident" -- hit its oil pipeline south of Khartoum, Sudan, on Sunday night and will disrupt the flow of crude "for a few days."
Details are sketchy, but Sudanese rebels have said that Talisman's oil venture could become a military target in their 16-year-old civil war with the government of the impoverished African country.
The blast occurred on the northern part of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. pipeline near Atbara, the company said in a release Monday.
"Repairs are under way and no disruptions to production operations or tanker liftings are anticipated," the company said.
Spokesman David Mann said the damage doesn't appear extensive. "We're still looking what happened, potentially how it happened."
Talisman said it had just set a production record of 136,000 barrels of crude oil a day from its Heglig oilfield, which it operates with other international energy companies.
The Calgary oil producer has a 25 per cent share of the Sudan project. The Sudanese government is to receive 60 per cent of the revenue, and the rest will go to other companies involved. Recoverable reserves in the Heglig area of central Sudan, 700 kilometres southwest of Khartoum, are estimated at 627 million barrels, and investors are looking at developing other fields.
Talisman is Canada's largest independent oil and gas producer. It has operations in Canada, the North Sea, Indonesia and Sudan. Talisman is also conducting exploration in Algeria and Trinidad.
Talisman has been criticized for working with the Sudanese government, which human rights groups and Western diplomats accuse of worsening tribal rivalries and trying to force an Islamic state on the south, where Christianity and tribal religions predominate.
However, the energy producer has defended its role in Africa, saying it employs many Sudanese and has helped build roads, water wells and a hospital.
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