[Ugnet] Death raises Sudan oil tensions

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Death raises Sudan oil tensions

Analysis Mark Gregory BBC World Service business correspondent Last Updated: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 16:11 GMT 17:11 UK Oil and power are never far apart as the SPLM realised The untimely death of the South Sudanese leader John Garang in a helicopter crash has re-ignited competition between oil companies. Many are keen to develop Africa's most promising untapped reserves. Garang had ties with a small British company, White Nile, which claims exploration rights to an area which may have up to a billion barrels of crude. There's speculation his death will strengthen French oil company, Total, which also claims rights over the area. Competing claims White Nile's shares fell 12% on Monday following news of Garang's death, even though the company denied operations would be affected. It is easy to see why investors were nervous. Garang played an important role in a deal that gives White Nile a 60% stake in developing the Block Ba oil concession, a region thought to contain $200bn worth of untapped oil at current prices. White Nile has only been in business two years. It was founded by a former star of the England cricket team, Phil Edmonds, who developed a strong working relationship with the ex-rebel leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. White Nile has certainly been popular with British investors - its shares rose more than tenfold in their first month's trading on London's Alternative Investment Market. The company says Garang's death won't affect its exploration concession as the deal it signed is backed by other high-ranking figures in southern Sudan's semi-autonomous government. Political dimension Meanwhile, the French oil giant Total claims to have rights over the same area under a 1980 agreement it signed with the other side in the civil war - the national Sudanese government. If nothing else, the dispute shows how oil and factional politics have got muddled up in one of Africa's most devastated but potentially wealthy regions. The peace deal signed in January to end the 21-year-old civil war between north and south has unleashed a new form of conflict. Chinese firms are now among the main players in a corporate battle over rights to Sudan's oil and mineral riches.

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Last Updated: Monday, 1 August 2005, 15:32 GMT 16:32 UK E-mail this to a friend In pictures: Sudan's John Garang 1 of 9 Sudan's vice-president and former rebel leader, John Garang, has died after the Ugandan presidential helicopter he was travelling in crashed in mountains in southern Sudan. 3 of 9 In 1983 he was sent to quell a mutiny by southern soldiers and did not return to Khartoum for 22 years. The mainly Christian and animist southerners objected to moves to impose Islamic Sharia law.   4 of 9 He led the fight against the Islamist government for 21 years. In recent years, the US played a key role in pushing both sides to stop fighting and share the oil wealth which had been discovered...   6 of 9 Mr Garang made a triumphal return to southern Sudan - cattle were slaughtered in traditional celebration. 8 of 9 ... When John Garang arrived in Khartoum in July to take up his post of vice-president, more than one million people turned out to welcome him.

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