High hopes for bilateral summit

Sudanese Oil Minister believes oil creates opportunities Khartoum – Abedalgoum Ashmeag Sudanese Oil Minister Awad Ahmed al-Jaz has called for both Sudanese presidents to resolve economic differences, expressing his hope that the Addis Ababa summit between Presidents al-Bashir and Salva Kiir would succeed. Speaking on Sudanese official radio, al-Jaz said that his department is waiting on a green light from the government to kickstart economic cooperation between the two countries. The Minister also revealed plans to develop Khartoum’s refinery, producing a projected 100,000 barrels per day, as well as developing the Port Sudan refinery in the east of the country. The Oil Minister claimed that 40% of Sudanese territories contained oil, adding that pre-partition production had reached over 300,000 barrels per day. His department had “resolved the situation,” he argued, by excluding South Sudan oil revenues from the country’s new year budget. The government is currently searching for oil in other Sudanese territories, he added. Al-Jaz meanwhile blamed “enemies of Sudan” for coaxing the South Sudan government into “rigorous” actions, citing the attack on oil-rich Heglig last April.  “Settling security issues would give momentum to other issues in both of our country’s national interests,” al-Jaz said. “Including oil.”