Sudan has inaugurated a new oil field with a 15,000 barrel-per-day production capacity, according to KsaToday.
Minister of Energy Awd Ahmad Aljas inaugurated the oil field in the southern district of Al-Wahda. The area has been fraught with one of the longest civil wars in Africa.
Sudan is the largest country on the African continent. Its economic growth rate stood at nearly 8.3 percent last year, up from 6.1 percent in 1998. Furthermore, inflation during the same year was cut in half, dropping to eight percent.
According to Sudanese government officials, the recent economic progress in the country is mainly due to increased oil exports. Presently, four oil companies produce about 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
However, the nation has also seen ongoing criticism regarding the funding of the country’s civil war with revenues from oil discoveries; profits from oil exports have doubled the government's defense budget in the last two years.
Some claim that in order to secure lucrative oil fields in the south, large portions of the local population have been driven from their lands.
Today, a number of countries including the United States have either limited or ceased completely oil exploration in Sudan. –(MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
