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Gold/Mining/Energy : TLM.TSE Talisman Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (577)	11/18/1999 7:47:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1713

Sudan's new oil riches could bring wealth or war By Rosalind Russell HEGLIG OIL FIELD, Sudan, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A glint of steel in Sudan's desolate southern marshes marks the spot which could bring prosperity to this war-ravaged country. A consortium of foreign companies began pumping oil from fields in Unity State just two months ago, and export revenues have already swollen government income by 20 percent. The government says oil revenues will be spent on development. The oil companies say they hope Sudan's new found wealth will help it resolve its 16-year civil war. "We will use the money to build roads, set up schools and hospitals," Hassan al-Turabi, speaker of parliament and leader of the ruling National Islamic Front told Reuters. "Tanks and guns won't settle the issue. But if people have something to lose that will cool the tempers." But southern rebels say the resources will be plundered to finance fresh offensives in the war which has already killed more than 1.5 million people. ``This is only going to fuel the war. I don't see any benefit for the south, they will only suffer more,' said Samson Kwaje of the main rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The oilfields are uncomfortably close to the front line, but Canadian company Talisman and the state oil firms of China and Malaysia found the huge, 800-million-barrel, reserves just too tempting to resist. On gravel pads built above nomads' reedy swamps, 77 wellheads pump more than 150,000 barrels a day (bpd) through a 1,600 km (1,000 mile) export pipeline to the Red Sea. With oil prices at nine year highs, the government share is around $250 million a year and is set to rise with production. WEALTH FOR SOME, NOT FOR OTHERS In a secure zone carved out by the army around the oil camp, life for some local pastoralists has improved. Each day a thousand or so workers pick up labouring work for $3 a day -- a considerable income in an area where survival is precarious. A new school has opened with desks and chairs donated by the oil firms, and families walk as much as 100 km to attend the small hospital that offers free medicine and emergency care. ``It's changed so much here since the oil was discovered,' said 25-year-old school teacher Mahmoud Hassan. ``The nomads can use the schools, markets and the hospital.' But most of the people of Unity State continue to suffer the same grinding poverty they have always known. Oil has ensured the area has become a flashpoint in the civil war which is complicated by numerous rival factions and shifting allegiances. Peter Gadet, a commander from the Nuer tribe, in September overthrew the leader of his Khartoum-backed faction and pledged to win back the oil fields for the people of the south. The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) which distributes relief food to hundreds of locations in the south estimates 30,000 people have been displaced by renewed ground fighting and government air bombardments. All are vulnerable to hunger, but unlike the oil companies, -- which operate daily charter flights to transport staff and supplies -- WFP has been unable to reach the needy due to a government ban on aid flights to most of Unity State. ``To avoid a crisis it's imperative that the government lifts the flight bans to the region,' said Mohammed Salaheen, WFP's Sudan country representative in Khartoum. ``We need to reach these vulnerable populations.' OIL COMPANIES UNDER FIRE An attack on the pipeline just weeks after it came onstream and a shooting incident at the field brought home to foreign oil companies the dangers of disaffected local population. Talisman chief executive Jim Buckee is as keen as the rebels to see oil revenues spent ``wisely' -- not least to deflect the wave of criticism the project has generated in North America. Human rights and church groups have led a divestment campaign against Talisman, pointing to a repressive Islamic regime they say is complicit in an age-old custom of slave raids by northern Arabs in the south. ``We have been assured that the money will be spent on reconstruction, reconciliation and rehabilitation of the south,' Buckee told Reuters. But even after sinking more $500 million into Sudan, Talisman says its influence over the government is limited. ``I don't doubt there's nasty things going on all sides,' Buckee said. ``But we are a business and we are not in politics and we can only affect things within our sphere of influence.'