Talisman Says Sudan Fighting Not Affecting Oil Flow; Buckee claims to know that there is no artillery near Bentiu
CALGARY (Reuters) - Talisman Energy Inc., partner in a controversial southern Sudan oil project, said Thursday output was unaffected by reported shelling in a region that was as far as 100 kilometers (62 miles) from its operations base.
Talisman Chief Executive Jim Buckee said he had not heard of fighting near the town of Bentiu in Unity state, reported by travelers to the region Thursday. Another spokesman with Calgary-based Talisman pointed out company staff had no connections with the town.
"I don't know anything about it, and it seems unlikely because nobody down there has got any artillery," Buckee told Reuters.
Talisman spokesman Stuart McDowell said oil from the development -- located in the Heglig area west across the Nile River from Bentiu -- was still flowing as normal at a rate of about 135,000 barrels a day.
Travelers who arrived in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, in army aircraft and other means told Reuters Thursday that Bentiu was being bombarded by troops of renegade commander Peter Gadiet.
Gadiet was operations commander of the pro-government forces of Paulino Matip, but was said to have rejoined the main rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army last month.
In northeastern Sudan last month, the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) pipeline that takes the oil production to a terminal at the Red Sea was ruptured in an explosion blamed on sabotage.
Talisman, which has a 25-percent interest in the recently completed project, has come under sharp criticism from various church groups and Sudanese rebels for its involvement in a development they believe will give Sudan's Islamic government cash to fuel a 16-year-old civil war.
Talisman's partners in the oil development include China National Petroleum Corp., Malaysia state oil company Petronas and the Sudan government.
Sudan Town Shelled by Renegade Militia
KHARTOUM, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Bentiu, the main town in Sudan's oil-rich Unity state, is being constantly shelled by forces formerly allied to the government of Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, witnesses said.
Travellers who arrived in Khartoum in army aircraft and other means told Reuters on Thursday that Bentiu is being bombarded by troops of renegade commander Peter Gadiet.
Gadiet used to be the operations commander of the pro-government forces of Paulino Matip but rejoined the main rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in September. Many rebel commanders in Sudan have changed sides many times.
There was no immediate information on the extent of casualties in Bentiu, located some 750 km (470 miles) southwest of Khartoum.
Gadiet split from Matip's forces in September, blaming Matip, who is now a major general in the Sudanese Army, and the government for not giving pro-government militias salaries and part of the oil revenue.
Sudan began its first crude oil exports from its Red Sea terminal of Port Bashair at the end of August. The country is reported to have reserves of some 800 million barrels of oil in its Heglig and Unity fields.
Sudan's Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company is owned by Malaysian state oil company Petronas (30 percent), the China National Petroleum Corp (40 percent), Talisman Energy Inc of Canada (25 percent) and Sudan's national petroleum company (five percent).
It was not known if oil operations were affected by the fighting.
According to the witnesses, Gadiet started to shell Bentiu about a month ago when government forces launched aerial bombardments on his positions after his defection.
Sudan has been racked by civil war since 1983, with fighting and famine claiming over 1.5 million lives. Rebels in the mainly Christian and animist south are fighting for more political and religious freedom from the Moslem-dominated north.
But it is not a purely north-south conflict as some northern opposition parties are allied to southern rebels, while some southern militias back the government. The picture has been further obscured by shifting allegiances.
Relief agencies say the intensive shelling has caused displacement and hunger in Bentiu.
An official of the World Food Programme (WFP) told Reuters on Thursday that the UN agency had to pull out of Bentiu on September 29 owing to the attacks. Other agencies followed suit.
"We are very worried about the food situation because there is now no relief food and the agricultural schemes and farms in the area were burnt down during the fighting in September and the few farms not destroyed are not being harvested as the people have run away," one relief official said.
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