L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

pany “Slavneft” would join a consortium of oil companies to prospect
for oil in Sudan. The move was part of the Sudanese government’s
effort to diversify the oil industry and open it up to all investors.
It was planned that “Slavneft” would operate in northern and
central Sudan in the Melut basin, and would start work by December
2001 According to the Sudanese “Wiqalat Anba’ as-Sudaneeya”, the
joint USD 200 mln worth project envisaged that Slavneft would invest
$180 million into the 126,000 square kilometer potential oil
field, while the Sudan Petroleum Company (Sudapet) was expected
to provide the remaining $20 million. Exploration was expected to
begin in March or April 2002. 51
The agreement with “Slavneft” was part of Sudan’s plan to double
its oil output by 2006. At that time Sudan produced over 81.9
million barrels of oil annually and was striving to reach 146 million
barrels per annum, because based on exploration completed by that
date, Sudan's proven reserves of crude oil were estimated at about
270 million barrels. But only eight months after it had signed a 25-
year agreement for the exploration of oil and gas in Block 9, in the
centre of the country “Slavneft” announced that it was pulling out of
Sudan. 52 The decision was rumored to have been connected with the
rapid expansion of Chinese oil business in the country and the privatization
of “Slavneft” in 2002. The new private owners were allegedly
afraid of negative reactions in the west to the company’s activity
in Sudan, and possible repercussions in other parts of the world
for the private company now belonging to them.
A typical feature of Soviet-African cooperation with the countries
of Sub-Saharan Africa in the mining sector was the predominance of
preliminary and early stages of exploitation of the mineral resources
(regional geological surveys, chartering, geophysical, geochemical
investigations, etc.). This could be explained by a very poor knowledge
and level of exploration of the regions where Soviet geologists
operated. At the same time, just as in North Africa, a number of countries
receive allround assistance at all stages of geological prospecting,
as well as in the development of mineral deposits.
An example is the cooperation with Guinea (Conakry) in developing
bauxite deposits which play a major role in country's long-
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