DPA: Sudanese President inaugurates longest oil pipeline in Africa
Khartoum (dpa) - The Sudanese president, Omar Beshir, Monday inaugurated an oil pipeline linking the Heglig oilfields in the Abyei province of Western Kordofan to Bishair port on the Red Sea.
Speaking on the occasion, General Beshir thanked the Sudanese army and the popular defence force for protecting the oil installations from rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) who had threatened to disrupt oil exploitation in the area.
The minister of mining and energy, Awad al-Jaz, told the gathering that the pipeline inaugurated measured 1,610 kilometres, describing it as the longest in Africa.
The minister said despite the threat by the rebels the work had gone according to schedule, stressing that on June 30, Sudan would begin exporting its oil through the pipeline.
The pipeline has a maximum capacity of 450,000 barrels per day but it will start by pumping only 150,000 barrels per day.
The date chosen as the beginning of the oil export coincides with the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the coup that brought General Beshir to power on June 30, 1989.
The oilfields in Heglig were originally drilled by the Chevron Oil company of the United States but it had to pull out in mid 1980's because of the insecurity caused by the civil war.
The Sudan government contracted other companies from Canada, China, Malaysia, Britain and Argentina to continue with the exploration and exploitation of oil in the country.
However, the SPLA has vowed to prevent the government from exploiting the oil, arguing that the way the government intends to exploit the oil will deprive the inhabitants of the area from the benefits of this natural resource.
The government has built refineries in the northern part of the country and erected a pipeline to pump the oil northwards and to the Red Sea for export while the fields are situated in the southern part of the country.
Recently the speaker of the Sudanese Parliament, Hassan Abdalla Turabi described as baseless rumours circulated by some circles that the Sudanese government was planning to use the oil revenue to develop an arms industry.
He said the oil revenue would be used for economic development of the country in general and the areas of production in particular. |
