Sudan oil interest in new Kenya rail link

[John Ashworth]

China, Kenya discuss new corridor for southern Sudan oil
Friday 16 October 2009 06:30.

October 15, 2009 (NAIROBI) — Kenyan and Chinese government is discussing the construction of a corridor to export southern Sudan production of oil through a new port.

Last year Kenya discussed the $3.5bn project with Qatar in return for a lease on 40,000 hectares of land to grow crops; but the deal was signed between the two countries.

In a statement to the Financial Times, the Kenyan Prime Minister who flew to Beijing on Wednesday said he considers China a better suited to achieve the project which also include the development of a Port in Lamu.

“The Chinese offer the full package,” he said, referring to the combination of financing and technical expertise that state-backed Chinese banks and construction companies have rolled out across Africa.

The land and rail corridor can provide an alternative route for southern Sudan oil which now transported by a pipeline to Port Sudan in north eastern part of the country.

The idea of a pipeline to transport the southern Sudan oil through Kenyan ports had been abandoned because of the quality of heavy crude and the high cost of the project.

(ST)