Slavneft Eyes Sudan Oil Fields - Moscow Times, April 24
Russian-Belarussian oil major Slavneft said Monday it could start drilling operations in Sudan within the next six months as part of its push into the oil-rich North African nation.
A Slavneft official said the company had received the results of seismic exploration at Sudan's Block-9 and Block-11 and would examine them before making a decision.
"If the reserves at these two sites satisfy us, we shall start drilling in the summer and produce our first oil within six months," the official said.
He said Slavneft had expressed interest in developing Block-15, a field off Sudan's section of the Red Sea, together with state oil company Rosneft.
The company is also seeking an entry into the Melut basin project in southern Sudan but the official said talks were still at an early stage. Melut is being developed by an international consortium uniting Gulf Petroleum, China National Petroleum Co. and Sudan's Sudapet.
The country produced 13.5 million tons of oil last year, up from 3 million tons in 1999 and exported 7.5 million tons. It plans to boost output to 15 million tons this year.
Slavneft, Russia's eighth-largest oil company, is seeking to expand its reserves abroad and is also eyeing a contract in Iraq. Company officials say a deal to drill at the Iraqi field of Suba is likely to be signed next month.
Slavneft produced 12.3 million tons of crude in 2000 and aims to boost this to 20 million tons by 2005, including from its overseas projects.
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Slavneft to produce oil in Sudan in spite of civil war
Commersant Daily - Russia, April 24
The Russian petroleum company Slavneft and the Sudanese ministry of energy have signed a co-operation agreement on Saturday. According to the agreement, Slavneft shall be granted the right to explore several oil fields in this African country. It is possible that soon Slavneft will operate with another Russian oil company, Rosneft.
The aggressive policies of Russian oil companies in Sudan show that Russia considers the business environment here as normal and feels no danger from the civil war still going on in the country.
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Russian-Belarus Company Planning to Develop Sudan Oil Fields
KHARTOUM, Apr 22 (Interfax) - The Russian-Belarus company Slavneft plans to join a consortium to develop two oil fields in the Melut basin in Sudan.
Slavneft plans early talks to buy a 46% stake from Melut Petroleum, a Canadian firm the Sudanese government has barred from the project "due to the fact that the financing problem has not been solved," Slavneft's president said.
Slavneft would gain control of the consortium if its bid succeeded, because the Russian company would then also take over management of an 8% Sudanese state stake in the alliance under the Sudanese president's guarantees, Slavneft President Mikhail Gutseriyev told reporters in Khartoum.
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Russian Firm to Prospect for Oil Around Khartoum
Panafrican News Agency (Dakar), April 22
Khartoum, Sudan
Russia's oil company, Slavneft, Sunday concluded an agreement with the Sudanese government to prospect for oil in and around Khartoum, official sources said.
The company's concession will cover the Khartoum State as well as the adjacent Gezira State, Northern Kurdufan State and Nahr el Neel State.
The concession also includes an area in eastern Sudan known as West Tokar.
Slavneft's local agent, Nizar el Sammani, said the company would start exploration towards the end of 2001.
Sammani said the company, which is 86 percent owned by the Russian government, is operating in Iran, Ukraine and in Azerbaijan.
He said the convenience of the Sudanese concession was its location in areas already provided with good transport links, telecommunication and power supply.
The director of explorations in the Sudanese ministry of energy signed the agreement for Sudan while Slavnet's director, Michael Goud signed for his side.
Sudan has a confirmed reserve of over one billion barrels of oil in the south and west of the country, official sources said.
The country exports 118,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
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Russian Company Joins Oil Consortium
UN Intergrated Regional Information Network, April 23
A Russian-Belarus oil company Slavneft will join a consortium of oil companies to prospect for oil in Sudan, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on 22 April.
The move was part of a government effort to diversify the oil industry and open it up to all investors, Muhammad Dirdiery of the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi told IRIN. Slavneft would operate in northern and central Sudan in the Melut basin, and would start work by December 2001, Dirdiery said.
According to the official Sudanese News Agency (Suna), President Umar al-Bashir met Slavneft executives on 21 April. Company executives pledged to provide unspecified "social services" to the populations of their area of operations, said Suna. |
