20-11-09 China National Petroleum Corp., CNPC, has signed agreements with Sudan to expand a refinery in Khartoum and swap oil production assets.
CNPC will swap shareholding in Block 6 with Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional's, Petronas, Block 5A in Sudan, the Beijing-based company and parent of PetroChina said.

The state-run oil company boosted output from overseas fields including projects in Sudan and Ecuador to a record last year to meet rising domestic demand. Sudan's crude exports to China rose 13 % to 8.6 mm tons in the first nine months, becoming the sixth-largest supplier to the world's second biggest oil consumer, according to Chinese customs.
CNPC increased production at Block 6, which produces heavy oil, in West Kordofan state in central Sudan, to 40,000 bpd, the Chinese company said in August 2006. The company operates seven oil production areas in Sudan. Petronas began started production from Block 5A, 900 km south of Khartoum, in June 2006.

The Khartoum refinery, in which CNPC and theSudan government have equal stakes, has an annual oil processing capacity of 5 mm tons, or 100,000 bpd. Sudan plans to double the refinery's capacity to 200,000 bpd once the expansion is completed by 2011, Sudapet's Chief Executive Officer Salah Wahbi said in June. The refinery supplies more than 80 % of fuel needs in Sudan.
CNPC and Sudan also signed an agreement on prepayment for crude supplies, a statement said.