The tale of White Nile - London's most explosive flotation since the dotcom boom - grew even more extraordinary yesterday amid claim and counter-claim about the status of the company's oil exploration agreement in south Sudan.
Phil Edmonds and Andrew Groves, White Nile's founders, were forced to attack reports that the Khartoum government, in northern Sudan, still claims to have some control over oil deals in the south. - Full Story in Guardian, 22 Feb.
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White Nile signs joint oil venture with Sudan
22 Feb Telegraph UK report: White Nile, the Aim-listed oil company where share dealings were suspended last week, said yesterday it had clinched a deal to explore for oil in the Sudan.
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South Sudan Official: Total, Marathon, KPC rights invalid
21 Feb Dow Jones report: Potentially lucrative oil rights reassigned to Total SA, Marathon Oil Corp and Kuwait Petroleum Corp are invalid, with a share of Total's awarded to London-listed White Nile Ltd instead, a southern Sudanese official said Monday.
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Sudan oil minister: No central government deal with White Nile Ltd
21 Feb Dow Jones report: Sudan's Oil Minister said Monday that the central government hasn't signed an exploration deal with London-listed White Nile Ltd., a speculative oil and mining stock whose shares rose 13-fold in value last week on news of a Sudanese oil deal before being suspended.
The minister told Dow Jones Newswires that foreign companies have to sign all concession agreements with the oil ministry in Khartoum, despite January's peace deal with southern rebels that ended decades of bloody civil war, which will soon see a regional government in the south with significant autonomy.
"If you look at the agreement, the only place to go for a concession is the oil ministry," the minister said.
But an official with the former southern rebel movement, the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement, said the south's regional government can negotiate its own oil deals with foreign companies.
"Of course we can negotiate for these deals," said the SPLM official, speaking from Nairobi, Kenya. He wasn't aware of any deal with White Nile.
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Sudan tells China that suspects have been brought to trial
22 Feb China news: Chinese Foreign Minster Li Zhaoxing says China supports the peace process in Sudan and will make efforts to resolve the Darfur issue. Li Zhaoxing was speaking on the telephone to his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Osman Ismail. They agreed to further develop cooperation between the two countries.
The Sudanese foreign minister also briefed Li Zhaoxing on the latest developments of the Darfur issue, saying the local situation is becoming more stable and that suspects have been brought to trial.
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