July 29, 2007	Sunday	Rajab 13, 1428

KHARTOUM, July 28: Sudan is exporting around 425,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and 30,000 tons a month of petroleum products, a senior oil ministry official said on Saturday.

The official also said deepened US sanctions earlier this year had not hurt Sudanese exports, except in administrative banking procedures.

“We produce a minimum of about 300,000 bpd of Nile Blend and the local refinery uses about 75,000 of that for internal consumption,” the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

“Of Dar Blend we produce about 200,000 bpd, all of it for exports,” he added.

Sweet Nile Blend is easier to sell and refine than the acidic Dar Blend.

The oil ministry official said around 40,000 bpd of al-Fula crude is also produced from Block 6 operated 95 per cent by China’s CNPC.

That goes entirely to the local refinery for domestic consumption.

The official added some 30,000 tons a month of petroleum products were exported.

“If production increases we have the capacity to export more,” he said. Two marine export terminals on Sudan's east coast can store up to 4 million barrels of Nile Blend and 3 million of Dar Blend.—Reuters