White Nile Petroleum Operating Company (WNPOC)

White Nile Petroleum Operating Company (WNPOC), incorporated in 2001, is a joint operating company between Petronas of Malaysia and Sudapet of Sudan, each of which owns a 50% share. As of mid-2012, however, Sudapet's claim to a share of WNPOC was unclear, as the South Sudanese government in November 2011 called on all of Sudapet's shares in South Sudan to be transferred to the country's national oil company, Nilepet.

=Organization= WNPOC operates in South Sudan and Sudan through three subsidiary companies: WNPOC-1 in Block 5A and WNPOC-2 in Block 5B, both in South Sudan; and WNPOC-3 in Block 8, in Sudan.


 * WNPOC-1 is a consortium of Petronas (67.88 percent), ONGC (24.125 percent) and Nilepet (7 percent)
 * WNPOC-2 is a consortium of Petronas (39 percent), Lundin Petroleum (24.5 percent), ONGC (23.5%), Nilepet (13 percent), and 10% awarded to the government of South Sudan with the consortium's composition to be renegotiated
 * WNPOC-3 is a consortium of Petronas (77 percent), Sudapet (15 percent), and Hi Tech (8%)

=History= WNPOC secured the rights to develop the Thar Jath and Mala fields in Block 5A in April 2005, in partnership with ONGC. WNPOC began oil production from Thar Jath in April 2006, followed by Mala main field in December 2006 and Mala satellite field in April 2008. The oil from WNPOC's fields is exported to Port Sudan via a 180-kilometer pipeline that ties into the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company's main pipeline, though as of June 2012 all production in South Sudan remained shut in due to pipeline fee disputes with Sudan.

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