The China National Petroleum Corporation claims that one of its subsidiary companies, China Petroleum Engineering Construction Corporation (CPECC) has emerged the winner out of 13 bidders for 7 engineering contracts in Sudan. India was one of the bidders and a close competitor. Sudan holds the fifth largest crude oil reserves in the African continent. CNPC is the largest oil producer in China, and stated that in September, one of its units was selected for a $260 million contract for engineering and construction for an area called Block 6, an oil block.
CNPC is also the parent company of PetroChina, a company listed in Hong Kong. It has been granted a $30 billion loan meant for funding overseas expansion projects in its persistent search for oil and energy sources beyond Chinese territory. CNPC is also responsible for the development of the first oilfield in Sudan. The present contracts are for various projects, including the expansion of a power plant, the CPF station expansion assignment, the construction of two 50,000 cubic meter crude oil tanks, the FNE Flow station, the Jake Flow station, the installation of a power grid system and oil well development. CPECC has already initiated the process of designing and making purchases of raw materials. According to the statistics released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, till January, Sudan’s oil reserves stood proven at five billion barrels. Most of the reserves are found in the Melut and Muglad basins in the southern part of Sudan.
Chinese companies enjoy a distinct advantage over others for securing infrastructure contracts due to the strong ties between Africa and China. China has risen to be the largest foreign investor in Sudan by substituting for U.S. interests in the country. With its own consumption of 8 million barrels per day according to 2008 figures, it needs to ensure a continuous supply of oil, the natural resources for which it does not have. Hence the dependence on countries like Sudan. In exchange, it is willing to pump in millions into infrastructure development and other avenues for the growth of Sudan.
Source : Business in Africa
