South Sudan Oil Reserves

"Landep News"

South Sudan Oil Reserves

South Sudanese foreign minister Nhial Deng Nhial on Sunday said that the relation with the European countries, and especially with France, is going well and growing. The statement was made at the end of a trip to France, where the foreign minister received a state reception as a sign of respect.
Deng said that that his trip to the French capital, and the way he was received were a sign that South Sudan is an important partner for the European countries. South Sudan became an independent state last July, and the event was attended, among others, by French foreign minister Alain Juppe.
The foreign minister said that more than the bilateral relations France and South Sudan discussed the matter of the French involvement in the solution of the oil crisis with Sudan.
Deng is said to have met with business leaders, including the French oil giant Total, which said that they were ready to invest in South Sudanese industry, after Juba, the capital state of the new state, has expelled the Chinese head of Petrodar, which is a consortium of Chinese National Petroleum Corporation and Malaysia’s Petronas, after the South Sudanese authorities warned the Chinese leaders against any complicity with Khartoum.
Sudan has been confiscating crude oil, which is being extracted from the South Sudan, but flows through the pipelines on the territory of Sudan. Khartoum says that the South did not pay the transition fees agreed, while the South said that the fees were nothing else than extortion.
The case went all the way to the African Union, and the case was brought to the attention of the leadership of the pan-African body, who facilitated a few rounds of negotiation in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Abeba, which is also the capital of the African Union.
Deng demanded the Total officials to resume activity in Jonglei state, the largest state in South Sudan, where the French have a 110,000 square kilometers block with Marathon Inc. from Texas, and Kuwait Company Petroleum Co. since 1981.
France officials are pleased to return to Jonglei, after years of embargo imposed by Marathon on Sudan, during the civil conflict, especially since the Texas company is also ready to return. However, the French said that the situation is too volatile. Marathon Inc. is due to resume its presence in Jonglei after the lift of the sanctions last year by Washington.
About 1,000 people were killed in skirmish between rebel groups in Jonglei over the last year, and large scale displacement was caused by these attacks. The rebels in the South pledged to make sure that no pipeline is being built to circumnagivate Sudan.
The foreign minister said that the members of the business groups are ready to come to exploit the business opportunities in South Sudan, and that they were only waiting for the approval by South Sudan authorities.
South Sudan said that 98% of the income of the new state was cut off when Sudan stopped the oil running through its territory, as well as the plans for a new pipeline.
France is expected to provide 110 million euros to support operations and development in the South Sudan. France is also involved in the water sector and the civil aviation sector in South Sudan.
Meanwhile, the National Congress Party in Sudan played down the announcement made by the president Omar Bashir that he would not seek a new mandate in the future. The leaders said that such decision can be made only by the party. Bashir played a very positive role in the separation of the South Sudan, in January 2011.

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