Economy, Middle East

Saudi Arabia looks for alternatives to oil in Sudan

Riyadh and Khartoum had signed agreement to explore minerals in joint territorial waters of Red Sea

04.05.2016 - Update : 23.05.2016
Saudi Arabia looks for alternatives to oil in Sudan

By Mohamed al-Khatem

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali bin Ibrahim al-Naimi arrived in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Wednesday for talks with his Sudanese counterpart on bilateral mineral cooperation.

The visit “is part of Saudi policies to find alternatives to oil,” Sudanese Minister of Minerals Mohamed Sadig al-Karori told reporters as he welcomed the Saudi minister at Khartoum Airport.

He said the talks will focus on the Atlantis II project, which involves exploring minerals in the joint territorial waters of the Red Sea.

Atlantis II dates back to the 1970s, but the two countries have failed to implement it due to the lack of suitable exploration technology at the time.

Al-Naimi, for his part, said his visit to Sudan reflects Saudi Arabia’s keenness “to launch joint non-oil investments, particularly minerals”.

Estimates show that there are 97 million tons of various minerals – including zinc, copper, silver and gold – in the area.

Saudi Arabia tops the list of Arab investors in Sudan with over $4 billion.

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Related topics
Bu haberi paylaşın