S. Sudan, foreign oil companies sign transitional agreement ArticleComments (1). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Julius N. Uma January 13, 2011 (JUBA) — South Sudan’s Petroleum and Mining ministry and foreign oil companies on Friday completed the historic signing a transitional agreement, just days after former accused North Sudan of illegally possessing its crude oil entitlements. Stephen Dhieu Dau (AFP)The agreement was signed by Stephen Dhieu Dau, South Sudan’s Petroleum minister and Jiang Jiemin, the Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) group. Five foreign oil companies, which included Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), Tri-Ocean energy and Nile Petroleum (NILEPET); a locally owned company also finalized agreements with South Sudan’s petroleum ministry. However, to strengthen bi-lateral ties and cooperation between China and the newly independent South Sudan, both nations further signed a number of documents. The inked agreements include: an agreement on training between CNPC and the South Sudan national ministry of petroleum and mining; a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and that of the Peoples’ Republic of China concerning sending a Chinese medical team to work in South Sudan; MoU for economic and financial cooperation between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan represented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Export-Import Bank of China; An agreement witnessing the handover certificate of the borehole drilling project aided by the Chinese government to South Sudan; An agreement on the exchange of letters on the donation of a grant to South Sudan to be provided by the Chinese government. The signing of these agreements climaxed the much-anticipated visit to Juba a high level Chinese delegation led by Li Yuanchao, a senior member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) political bureau. Li thus became the first senior Chinese official to visit South Sudan since the latter gained independence from the Republic of Sudan on July 09 last year, with China being among one of the first countries that recognized it. On arrival, however, the team, which comprised of top CPC members, government officials and businessmen first held talks with South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir before engaging in bilateral discussions with senior Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) headed by its Secretary General, Pagan Amum. Details of what transpired between the Chinese delegation and the South Sudan leader were not readily availed to the media. Addressing the media shortly after the occasion, Antipas Nyok, SPLM Secretary for Political Affairs lauded the Chinese government for its continued support towards South Sudan, adding that the southern government will fully cooperate with its Chinese counterpart. On the other hand, however, Ai Ping, a member of the CPC central committee emphasized the importance of stronger ties between the two countries and pledged the Chinese government’s commitment to help the newly independent South Sudan in its post-war recovery efforts. (ST). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
