AP: "it will take about 4 years for Sudan to begin making money off the oil"
Sudan Inaugurates Oil Pipeline
By SUSAN SEVAREID Associated Press Writer
HEGLIG, Sudan (AP) - Sudan's president danced and workers cheered at today's inauguration of a 1,000-mile pipeline that will allow this impoverished nation to exploit vast oil reserves long untapped because of war and politics.
The $3 billion investment in pipeline and refineries is expected to yield 150,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of September, quickly increasing to at least 250,000 barrels per day.
Recoverable reserves in this isolated semi-desert area 435 miles southwest of the capital, Khartoum, are estimated at 627 million barrels. The pipeline stretches from the Heglig-area oil fields in western Kordofan province to the port city of Bashaier on the Red Sea.
''It is not Saudi, but it is the first sizable deposit in what may be a large hydrocarbon province,'' said Jim Buckee, chief executive officer of Talisman Energy Inc. based in Calgary, Canada.
The fields were discovered in 1982 by U.S.-based Chevron Corp., but the company did not develop them and cited security reasons for eventually dumping the project.
In 1983, the largely Christian and animist south rebelled against the Islamic northern government in a civil war that has claimed 1.9 million lives.
Talisman has invested $400 million in the pipeline, and Buckee said the company is satisfied with government security.
President Omar el-Bashir, addressing 3,000 workers, villagers and dignitaries from Khartoum, spoke of outfoxing U.S. interests in Sudan by finally nearing completion on the oil project.
''The oil was always here, but ... it was in the hands of the American company - and the Americans said 'We do not need this oil at this time,''' he said. When told to dig it out ''for the benefit of the Sudanese people or we are bidding farewell,'' the Americans left, he said.
Bashir thanked the foreign oil companies investing in the project, including Chinese and Malaysian firms.
Energy Minister Awad al-Jazz said it will likely take about four years for Sudan to begin making money off the oil, given the high start-up expenses. However, his production estimates - at an initial 180,000 to 200,000 barrels per day - run slightly higher than those of the oil consortium.
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