Sudan to build longest oil pipeline in Africa

Sudan began work on a petroleum pipeline stretching across 1,610 kilometers. The longest of its kind in Africa, the pipeline will be operational in July 1999 when it will begin transporting raw petroleum from the Haigleg area in West Kardavan to the new Harbor Bashir, south of Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

The Sudanese government signed on February 22 contracts worth $600 million with four companies one Chinese, one Argentinean and two British, to build the pipeline.

The Chinese National Petroleum Company will build the pipeline, while the Argentinean company will build pumping stations and a communications network.