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Sudan Tribune

Plural news and views on Sudan

Report on oil development in northern Upper Nile, Sudan

European Coalition on Oil in Sudan

– PO Box 19318
– 3501 DH Utrecht
– Netherlands
– Tel: +31 (0) 302333346
– Fax: +31 (0) 302368199
– Email : [email protected]
– Website: www.ecosonline.org

JUNE 20, 2006 — The latest report on Sudan’s oil industry uncovers the negative socio-economic and environmental impact of oil exploitation in the Melut Basin in Upper Nile State, Sudan, as told by inhabitants of the area and seen from satellites.

The report focuses on the Melut and Maban Counties, Renk District, which fall into concession blocks 3 and 7, held by the Petrodar Operating Company Ltd. (PDOC) under an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with the Sudanese Government. The Petrodar Operating Company is held by the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC, 41%, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas, Malaysia, 40%), Sudan Petroleum Company (Sudapet, 8%), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec, 6%), and Al Thani Corporation (United Arab Emirates, 5%).

The CPA contains a range of principles and measures that offer a coherent framework for reforming Sudan’s oil sector and popular trust-building, but the relevant provisions have remained a dead letter. The pattern of environmental and social destruction has not yet been decisively reversed. There is no process in place that could lead to adequate protection of man and its natural environment, nor to assure fair compensation and redress for the people who have suffered. The key issue for the competent authorities and Petrodar is to set and implement standards and practices that protect the rights of people and the integrity of their natural environment, and to repair the damage done. ECOS calls upon the Sudanese oil industry to assume its responsibilities and to assure that its operations are conducive to the success of the CPA.

Key findings:

1. Oil-rich areas in the Melut Basin have suffered the same pattern of oil-related death, destruction and displacement as the Muglad Basin fields in Western Upper Nile, though on a smaller scale.

2. The oil fields have been developed against the background of a war in which Petrodar has not acted as a neutral party but as a loyal partner of one of the warring sides, the Government of Sudan.

3. Petrodar has shown no due regard for the natural environment or concern for the rights of the population. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has not brought visible changes in its attitude or business practices.

4. Oil exploitation has coincided with a decline in the rural population in parts of Melut and Maban Counties.

5. Many of the sandy ridges where Dinka build their settlements have been excavated and used for road construction, desecrating the graveyards. The remains of the dead are now scattered in the oil roads.

6. Crop patterns in Melut County have changed dramatically between November 1999 and 2005.

7. The hundreds of kilometres of all-weather roads have dammed seasonal tributaries to the Nile, including the Khor Adar.

8. The oil exploitation threatens the integrity of the world-famous Machar Marches wetland.

9. Despite the fact that oil production in Melut County currently generates well over $ 10 million a day, the region remains extremely poor with negligible service levels.

10. The meagre and contractually obligatory Community Development activities by Petrodar have served to reward militias with highly abusive records and to perpetuate forced displacement. Their benefits have gone largely unnoticed by the population.

11. Fellata agro-pastoralists are settling north of Paloic, raising fears for future tension and conflict.
12. Pollution of the Nile may have major consequences for both Sudan and Egypt.

13. The oil industry in northern Upper Nile has no social support base, which is a negative indicator for the reliability of this crucial source of State revenues

ECOS has designed principles the “ECOS Business Principles for Sudan during the Interim Period” that provides companies with a framework with which they can maximise both their own and society’s benefits of Sudan’s oil wealth.

The full report (in both pdf and text-only version), additional pictures and satellite images as well as the business principles can be freely downloaded at www.ecosonline.org

The European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) is a group of over 80 European organizations working for peace and justice in Sudan. ECOS calls for action by governments and the business sector to ensure that Sudan’s oil wealth contributes to peace and equitable development

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