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Sudan Plans to Create 250,000 Jobs, Increase Oil Production

A general view shows Sudanese people and traffic along a street in Khartoum, Sudan. File photo: Reuters
A general view shows Sudanese people and traffic along a street in Khartoum, Sudan. File photo: Reuters
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Sudan Plans to Create 250,000 Jobs, Increase Oil Production

A general view shows Sudanese people and traffic along a street in Khartoum, Sudan. File photo: Reuters
A general view shows Sudanese people and traffic along a street in Khartoum, Sudan. File photo: Reuters

Sudan aims to improve its economic sector to increase investment opportunities in the private sector, especially after the US said it will lift Khartoum from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning announced plans to create about 250,000 jobs for young people as part of the national transitional strategy.

The Ministry will also establish a unit for entrepreneurship at the General Authority for Investment and Private Sector Development, and a fund for youth financing to contribute to providing opportunities for Sudanese people.

Finance Minister Heba Mohammad Ali met with Sheikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UNIDO’s Arab International Regional Center for Entrepreneurship and Investment, and a number of relevant authorities.

Mohammad Ali said that the Ministry wants to benefit from UNIDO’s expertise and capabilities in entrepreneurship.

Sheikh Ebrahim affirmed the organization's readiness to provide technical and financial expertise to Sudan. The two sides agreed to set a deadline for submitting their plans on establishing the entrepreneurial unit.

Meanwhile, Sudan will add 3,000 barrels a day of oil production from a new oilfield, which will boost the country’s output to 64,000 bpd, Aiman Aboujoukh, the general manager of state oil firm Sudapet, announced.

Sudan has been trying to lift oil production to lower costly fuel imports after losing 73 percent of oil output when South Sudan seceded in 2011, according to Reuters.

Aboujoukh indicated that al-Rawat oilfield in White Nile state will go online within two weeks with seven wells, hoping to add an extra 20,000 bpd next year if the finance ministry approved funds for exploration.

He said authorities hoped that Western firms would invest in, after the US confirmed it would lift Khartoum from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which blocked international funding and debt relief.

Last week, Sudan doubled local fuel prices with immediate effect to tackle the budget deficit.

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Oil Slumps More than 4% after Iran Downplays Israeli Strikes

Oil pump jacks work at sunset near Midland, Texas, US, August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jessica Lutz/File Photo
Oil pump jacks work at sunset near Midland, Texas, US, August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jessica Lutz/File Photo
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Oil Slumps More than 4% after Iran Downplays Israeli Strikes

Oil pump jacks work at sunset near Midland, Texas, US, August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jessica Lutz/File Photo
Oil pump jacks work at sunset near Midland, Texas, US, August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jessica Lutz/File Photo

Oil prices tumbled more than $3 a barrel on Monday after Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran over the weekend bypassed Tehran's oil and nuclear facilities and did not disrupt energy supplies, easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Both Brent and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures hit their lowest levels since Oct. 1 at the open. By 0750 GMT, Brent was at $72.92 a barrel, down $3.13, or 4.1%, while WTI slipped $3.15, or 4.4%, to $68.63 a barrel, Reuters said.
The benchmarks gained 4% last week in volatile trade as markets priced in uncertainty around the extent of Israel's response to the Iranian missile attack on Oct. 1 and the US election next month.
Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn on Saturday against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, in the latest exchange in the escalating conflict between the Middle Eastern rivals.
The geopolitical risk premium that had built in oil prices in anticipation of Israel's retaliatory attack came off, analysts said.
"The more limited nature of the strikes, including avoiding oil infrastructure, have raised hopes for a de-escalatory pathway, which has seen the risk premium come off a few dollars a barrel," Saul Kavonic, a Sydney-based energy analyst at MST Marquee, said.
"The market will be watching closely for confirmation Iran won't counter attack in the coming weeks, which could see the risk premium rise again."
Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar expects market attention to turn to ceasefire talks between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hamas that resumed over the weekend.
"Despite Israel’s choice of a low aggression response to Iran, we have doubts that Israel and Iran’s proxies (i.e. Hamas and Hezbollah) are on track for an enduring ceasefire," he said in a note.
Citi lowered its Brent price target in the next three months to $70 a barrel from $74, factoring in a lower risk premium in the near term, its analysts led by Max Layton said in a note.
Analyst Tim Evans at US-based Evans Energy said in a note: "We think this leaves the market at least somewhat undervalued, with some risk OPEC+ producers may push back the planned increase in output targets beyond December."
In October, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, kept their oil output policy unchanged including a plan to start raising output from December. The group will meet on Dec. 1 ahead of a full meeting of OPEC+.