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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| SPLA cuts off oil to Khartoum... |
| 2002-10-02 |
| Sudan's southern rebels said they had cut off oil supplies to Khartoum just as a Kenyan mediator opened talks aimed at convincing the government to return to the negotiating table. "A commando unit of the 20th brigade ... penetrated the oil collection and production complex in Heglig and destroyed the main station," said the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in a statement received here. That should give 'em some incentive — all that money, that's not coming in, all those Mercedes payments, falling behind... The rebel organisation said it suffered no casualties "despite attacks by the helicopter gunships of the regime" of President Omar al-Beshir. The Heglig oilfield accounts for the bulk of Sudan's oil production running currently at around 240,000 barrels per day (bpd). It came on stream in August 1999, making Sudan an oil-exporting country. Guess what they just quit exporting? The government had made no comment several hours after the SPLA statement. If confirmed, the destruction of the pumping station would strike a blow to Khartoum's plans to boost production to 300,000-325,000 bpd by the end of 2003, and to more than 450,000 bpd by 2005. Now they can boost it to zero... The statement was issued as Kenyan mediator General Lazaros Symbio was presenting ideas in Khartoum to convince the Sudanese government to resume peace talks with the rebels. That's pressure on the gummint, alright. The SPLA was shakey in its adherence to the agreement they had worked out before, but then the gummint decided to attack them on the day the daggone thing was signed. Maybe this time they'll try and work something out for real. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |