Sudan has signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corporation to take a majority stake in Block 13 in the Red Sea.
CNPC has a 40% stake, 15% for both Indonesian state company and Sudanese state oil outfit Sudapet.
Nigeria’s Express and Africa Energy companies and Sudanese Dindir Petroleum International will each take 10%.
The 38,200 square-kilometer block will require an initial exploration investment of $25 million in the first three years, the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
Three wells were drilled in the block by Italian oil company Agip which began work in the area in 1959 and "oil and gas shows" were found, the official said, adding they were not commercial.
Sudan’s National Petroleum Commission approved the deal, which was signed at the end of June.
That leaves just two current blocks still to be assigned in Sudan. Block 12b covers the war-torn western Darfur region and the eastern Block 10.

(Upstream Online)