Sudan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Awad, has announced that Sudan’s Sudapet will become the sole owner of Block B2, located in the southern part of the country. This comes in line with the new production sharing agreement (PSA) and will take effect late November, Ecofin Agency reported.

Block B2 field, located 45km west of the contested Abyei area, is the most productive field in South Kordofan state near the border with South Sudan. In October, the State Minister for Oil at the time, Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman, had said that the oil extracted from block B2 did not exceed 20% of the rich field reserve, informed Sudan Tribune. The field is a joint venture between the government of Sudan and the Greater Nile Company which includes Chinese CNPC, India’s ONGC Videsh, Pertonas and Sudapet.

Awad met separately with China Oil Company and India Oil Company officials to discuss the renewal of concession agreement. According to him, PSA renewal would increase Sudan’s shares and protect partners’ interests as there is a need to boost oil production and reduce its cost to cope with the falling oil prices in the global market.