Sudan raises oil output after reserves estimate is tripled
LONDON, November 15 (UPI) -- Sudan's oil production reached 210,000 barrels a day, some 180,000 of which were being exported while 30,000 were used in local consumption, according to a U.S. Energy Department report.
The report, released Tuesday, said the raised production followed an estimate of oil reserves that put them at 3 billion barrels compared with an estimated 1.2 billion barrels last January.
Production, which was 138,000 barrels a day last year, reached 200,000 barrels during the second quarter of this year. It said such an increase was accompanied by the new estimation of the country's oil reserves. According to Sudanese officials, the new estimate included 700 million barrels of proven reserves as well as 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
Sudan exports its oil through a nearly 1,000-mile-long pipeline linking oil fields to an export terminal on the Red Sea near Port Sudan. The terminal currently has a capacity of 250,000 barrels a day, but could be nearly doubled to 450,000 barrels. Sudan plans to export oil to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Production in the Greater Nile Oil Project is handled by a consortium of the China National Oil Corporation with a 40 percent share, Malaysia's Petronas with 30 percent, Canada's Arakis with 25 percent and 5 percent for Sudapet, a Sudanese firm.
The Sudanese government has been encouraged to open the way for oil exploration in new areas of the Red Sea and the northwest of the country. Malaysia was expected to play a bigger role in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in Sudan with its investments set to reach $1 billion.
The U.S. report expected Sudan to achieve a 6.5 percent economic growth this year and its deficit to decrease. Export revenues reached $780 million last year.
The International Monetary Fund has expressed satisfaction over recently adopted government economic measures. Sudan's foreign debts total $24 billion. |
