Sudan will decide on White Nile oilfield case
White Nile, the Aim-listed oil explorer, said yesterday a commission had been set up in Sudan to decide the ownership of its oil concession.
The company, which has signed a deal with the newly-formed government of the South of Sudan for the block, is being challenged by French oil major Total. The field is estimated to hold up to a billion barrels of crude.
White Nile's share price surged from its placing price of 10p when it came to Aim in February, before being suspended over uncertainty about its assets. Yesterday, the shares, which have fallen since touching 147½p last month, edged up 2½ to 101p.
The group said a commission with five members from both the Northern and Southern governments, and three from the region where the block is sited, will decide between White Nile and Total. Total has hired English lawyers to argue its case.
One of White Nile's institutional investors, Frank Holmes, of US Global Investors, said the company had a "very very high risk profile". However, he added: "The geologists estimate there is a billion barrels of oil. If you put a valuation of $5 a barrel on it, it's worth £10 to £15 a share."
He said: "We call companies like this jalapenos - when growth could be explosive. We took a very small position and we have added to it."
- Database Search
- Unpaid Debt A comprehensive overview of the role of the Lundin Consortium in the oil war. ECOS calls upon the Swedish, Austrian and Malaysian governments to investigate whether, as a matter of international law, Lundin, OMV and Petronas 'were complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by others during the period 1997-2003.’ In response, the Swedish Public Prosecutor for International crimes opened a criminal investigation into ‘links between Sweden and the reported crimes’.
- In Depth For more specific information about the Lundin court case please visit the Unpaid Debt dossier.
