Chinese Firm Wins $260mn EPC Contracts To Develop Block 6
An engineering subsidiary of China’s state-owned CNPC is to carry out seven new EPC contracts at Block 6 in north Sudan, which it operates, as part if the company’s plan to develop the block and raise oil production there. The China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC) will build two new flow stations and oil storage tanks, each with a capacity of 50,000 cu ms, as well carrying out oil well workovers and an expansion of the power plant at the central production facility. A source at the company said the work would cost more than $260mn, a figure mentioned in Chinese news agency Xinhua’s report of the project on 9 October. CNPC is the operator of Block 6 with a 95% interest, and Sudan’s state-owned Sudapet owns the remaining 5%.
The concession, which straddles the states of Kordofan and South Darfur, was brought on-stream in 2004, and produces Sudan’s highly acidic Fula crude oil, at a current rate of around 40,000 b/d. Additional reserves were found in the western part of the block last year, and the operating consortium hopes to raise production by around 20,000 b/d within two years, as the head of Sudapet told MEES in May. All the oil produced is sent via a 730km pipeline to the refinery at Khartoum. But a link to the Nile Blend pipeline is being considered, which would enable light oil from the Fula field to be mixed with Sudan’s export stream, and boost volumes (MEES, 1 June).
Copyright MEES 2009.
