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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 04:10 GMT | more >>

Jarch claims exclusive Sudan award



By Barry Morgan 

Hong Kong-based Jarch Management Group said today it had been awarded exclusive rights to oil and gas exploration and production as well as the marketing and transportation of commodities in southern Sudan.

The award ties up several deals negotiated over the past five years.

All accords were reached prior to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which brought an end to the civil war in January 2005. The autonomous southern Sudanese government based in Juba has insisted that such deals must be respected regardless of whether the regime in Khartoum opts to ratify them.

Jarch has been informed that its agreements are “valid, binding and enforceable” commitments of the Juba government, according to a company statement.

Jarch said that the agreements “have been signed off at the highest level” and that President Salva Kiir and his deputy commander in chief General Paulino Matip agreed these would be “paramount obligations” of the Government of South Sudan.

Although not stipulated by the contracts, Jarch insisted that 10% of its profits would “go back to the people” of South Sudan.

While details of the accord remain sketchy, the move is likely to send shockwaves through industry circles since several small and major players have competing claims to exploration and production acreage in the war-torn region.

Kiir in July abruptly ejected UK minnow White Nile from its drillsite on Block Ba and has left a raft of suitors wondering if their own deals signed either with Khartoum, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement or the pre-CPA Civil Authority, will be ratified.

These include Total and Kuwait’s Kufpec (Block B), Petronas and Ascom (Block 5a), Glencore affiliated H-Oil (Block-Ea) and several smaller tracts near the Ethiopian border targeted by private companies hailing from Malaysia and mainland China.

Tension is increasing along the disputed North-South border in Sudan. Under the peace agreement, Khartoum was meant to withdraw troops last month from Bentiu and the oilfields of the Upper Nile but instead has ordered a military build-up. Last week saw Juba dispatch its own army to the area, a mélange of former rebel militia which have now integrated into one force.


Thursday, 09 August, 2007, 20:55 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 09 August, 2007, 20:56 GMT

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