Sudan, Saudi Aramco Expected to Ink Deal

Sudan expects to reach a long-term agreement with Saudi Aramco to supply the country with oil derivatives, at preferential price.

Shipments of some products Arabian Oil (Saudi Aramco) had already started, the Sudanese Energy Ministry said on Sunday.

A delegation of Saudi officials and companies is currently visiting Sudan for two days, to hold talks on potential investments in sectors such as agriculture, energy, mining and technology.

The Sudanese-Saudi Investment Forum is taking place, in Khartoum, on 12-13 September with participation of the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen and a host of Saudi businessmen and investors, besides the Sudanese ministers of the economic sector and development and the Businessmen Union, Sudan-state news agency SUNA reported.

The Saudi Minister reaffirmed keenness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on enhancing economic, commercial and investment relations with Sudan, to realizing mutual interests, referring to directives by the government of the Kingdom to discuss investment opportunities, in Sudan in the fields of energy, infrastructures, agriculture and telecommunication.

Sudan’s Minister of Oil and Energy Eng. Jadain Ali Ebaid said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed desire to cooperate with Sudan, in energy, oil, gas and other fields, according to SUNA.

“Energy specialists from both countries have signed a memorandum of understanding on energy, in general, while targeting agreement with Aramco, aims at securing a stable and sustainable supply of oil derivatives for the Sudan,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The agreement had been discussed against the backdrop of the recent liberalization of the fuel market by Sudan, the ministry announced, adding that Saudi Arabia-based International Company for Water and Power Projects, better known as ACWA Power was looking, since a while, for opportunities, in order to invest in the renewable energy sector, in Sudan.