Block 8 probes deliver for WNPOC
White Nile Petroleum Operating Company (WNPOC) has hit significant amounts of dry, non-associated natural gas at two wells drilled in Block 8, the company's vice president Ali Faroug Abbas said.
"We discovered gas in two wells - Hosan and Tawakul - in Block 8," Abbas told Dow Jones in an interview.
"Our plan now is to explore for more gas and oil in this block, and to commercialise it," Abbas added.
WNPOC, in which Sudan National Petroleum Corporation (Sudapet) and Malaysia's Petronas each own 50%, made a 108 billion cubic feet discovery in the block in March.
In November, the company found 15 Bcf of gas reserves at Hosan, Abbas said.
"We are hopeful we will find more gas in Block 8. The potential (after initial tests) is for 16 trillion to 20 trillion cubic feet," he added.
The latest announcement comes as Sudan, Africa's largest state, prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary of becoming an oil exporting country.
Sudan is presently pumping about 520,000 barrels per day of crude.
So far, the only other gas discovery in Sudan was made in 2005 by Petroenergy, which is a joint venture between Sudapet and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in Block 6.
The gas will be used to fire a 400 megawatt power plant in the area.
The gas discovered in Block 8 will also be used domestically, with Sudapet and Petronas presently screening potential power generation and fertiliser projects.
Revenues generated will go towards further gas exploration, Abbas said.
"If this potential is realised we will start exporting gas to the east, to countries like [South] Korea, China, Japan and Malaysia but it is unlikely to go to the West until sanctions are lifted," Abbas said.
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