Contracts between China and South Sudan must be reviewed as the existing contract was signed when Sudan was still one country.

China has been awarded concessions by the Sudanese government to explore for oil in three “promising” areas in the country, possibly in Darfur. Also, eight Chinese companies are going to enter the country’s agriculture sector.

Gulf Petroleum Investment Company (GPI) has expressed interest in conducting oil-wells drilling and exploration activities in Sudan. It is not clear yet where the Kuwaiti company’s exploration activities will take place.

South Sudan’s Nilepet has entered into joint venture with Swiss Glencore International. The move seeks to ensure that crude oil entitlements from Nilepet/ Republic of South Sudan , find a market in the international arena.

Report on the 2-day conference 'Sudan's Oil Industry after the Referendum' held in Juba, December 2010.It contains recommendations with regards to the post-referendum arrangements, petroleum policy, company-community relations, compensation, transparency, security, land rights and the environment.

Next January the people of southern Sudan will vote in a referendum to decide whether or not to separate from the north. An independent southern Sudan would leave the Khartoum government without its main bread earner: almost 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Since most of Sudan's oil lies in the south, this raises the question of how the north would survive without the billions of dollars of annual revenue that oil brings in.

Sudan signed a $30 million deal with small Finnish company Fenno Caledonian to explore Block 10 in the north east of the country.

Sudan signed a deal with two small European oil companies for the new Block E. The long slim Block covers an area of approximately 50,000 km2, and has a potential estimated in 2 Billion Barrels of oil. It is located over the south margin of the Muglad basin, traversing four southern states and South Darfur in north Sudan.

Sudan signed a new onshore exploration deal for Block E with two European companies, Star Petroleum company, based in Luxembourg, and Norwegian Hamla company. They called for other Western companies to invest in the U.S.-sanctioned oil producer.

Southern Sudan intends to implement a review of all oil contracts inked between Khartoum and overseas oil players. Southern Sudan doesn't plan to revoke existing deals, but wants to assert a higher level of control over its oil industry than currently exists.