(Ecofin Agency) - Sudan has announced China’s exploration for oil and gas in the Red Sea, Sinnar, and West Kordofan.

China being Sudan’s largest foreign investor, which hosts China’s biggest investment in the African continent last week, witnessed President Omer al-Bashir and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signing of a bilateral strategic partnership, including an agreement for production of natural gas in Sinnar State.

 “China will start gas production in zone 15 in the Red Sea, in zone 4, known as Baleela field, and zone 6 north of Heglig in West Kordofan State, as well as zone 8 in Souki in the east of Sinnar State,” Sudanese oil and gas minister Mohamed Zayed Awad told Oil and gas people.

Gas production brings in a new level in the development of oil industry in Sudan. Explorations confirmed the presence of gas in many areas, particularly zones 8 and 15 in the Sinnar and Red Seas States, respectively.

In 2009, Sudan announced that oil production from “Tawakul” well in Sinnar had started, with an output of 3.7 million cubic feet of condensed gas per day. It estimated the overall reserve of the zone at 25 billion cubic feet.

The oil minister stated that China had agreed to apply the associated gas technology (APG) in enhancing gasoline production, power generation, producing cooking gas, and modernizing the oil sector.

The minister affirmed that the state-owned oil company, Sudapet, had finalized the economic feasibility studies for the said zones. He expects the new agreements to boost oil and gas production.