ABSTRACT
The exploration, and possible wide discovery, of oil in the Darfur region in western Sudan has been overshadowed by the tense and often conflicting political, geological, and humanitarian judgments emanating mostly from the past experience of oil exploration and production in south-western and southern Sudan. Several challenging issues including domestic, regional and international factors have combined to discourage the Sudanese Government from behaving openly with regard to oil exploration and production in the region, fearing a swift backlash of various international observers and human rights groups. In addition, the Darfur rebels strongly object to any oil production or operation before reaching a lasting peace agreement to the ongoing conflict in the region. The purpose of this study is to explore the prospects of discovering commercially significant oil deposits in Sudan in general and in Darfur in particular. The study will analyze available published information about the possibility of oil existence in Darfur based on the limited exploration conducted thus far and will also examine the petro-geology structure of the region in order to assess the possibility of oil formations around the region. The political implications of such prospects will be analyzed as well as the impact of the secession of South Sudan. While the availability of oil anywhere can be confirmed only by drilling, the study will review the opinions of oil experts about the possibility of oil existing in the region. Finally, the study will also examine official reports of the Sudanese Government and international oil companies operating in Sudan and draw analogies between the Darfur petro-geology and similar structures elsewhere in order to make approximate judgments about the potential oil reserves in the region.
