Oil Ministry To Train First Batch Of Southerners

22 November 2010 – (Malakal) – The federal Minister of Oil Dr. Lual Deng Acuil says that the ministry will train about 40 southern Sudanese on technical aspects of oil exploration.

Speaking to the press in Malakal on Sunday, minister Lual said that the training is important and prepares the region in case the south votes for independence in the coming referendum.

[Dr. Lual Deng]: “Petroleum will be a common factor if two countries emerge and petroleum production will continue. We have clear instructions from the presidency and the first vice president that this is the suitable period to train people from the area. In my discussion with the governor, I told him that we intend to train forty people from Upper Nile state, among them those with Sudan school certificate in the technical aspects of exploration. We intend to send them to Malaysia and some of them to India. Also this is a petroleum state and this petroleum as stated by the late Dr. John Garang, is the engine of the Sudanese economy.”

According to the minister the six month training will start soon, as they aim to have petroleum experts in the south before the end of the interim period.

This will be the first government sponsored training for southern Sudanese in the oil and petroleum sector since oil was discovered in the country.

In related news, the state minister for oil Ali Ahmed Osman told the pro-government Al-Rayaam newspaper that the current production levels of oil in the north will suffice should the south opt to secede.