Editing Economy of Sudan (section)

===Petroleum===
{{main|Petroleum industry in Sudan}}
Extensive [[petroleum]] exploration first began in Sudan in the mid-1970s. Significant finds were made in the [[Upper Nile, Sudan|Upper Nile]] region and commercial quantities of oil began to be exported in October 2000, reducing Sudan's outflow of foreign exchange for imported petroleum products. Today, oil is an important export industry in Sudan. Estimates suggest that oil accounts for between 70% and 90% of Sudan's total exports. The primary importers of Sudanese oil are Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India.<ref>Energy Information Administration 2007, [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html 'Country analysis brief: Sudan'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313172226/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html |date=13 March 2008 }}, ''www.eia.doe.gov'', April. Retrieved on 6 March 2008. (Estimates that oil comprises 70% of all exports.)</ref><ref>European Coalition on Oil in Sudan 2007, [http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf 'ECOS Fact Sheet'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913095104/http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf |date=13 September 2008 }}, ''www.ecosonline.org'', October, p. 1. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. (Estimates that oil accounts for 90% of all exports.)</ref>

Most of Sudan's oil reserves are located in the [[Muglad Basin|Muglad]] and [[Melut Basin|Melut]] [[rift basin]]s in the south of the country.<ref name="Country analysis brief: Sudan">Energy Information Administration 2007, [http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html 'Country analysis brief: Sudan'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313172226/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html |date=13 March 2008 }}, ''www.eia.doe.gov'', April. Retrieved on 6 March 2008.</ref> Oil fields in the south, such as those at [[Heglig]] and in the [[South Sudan]]ese state of [[Unity (state)|Unity]], formerly part of Sudanese territory, are linked to the country's refineries via pipelines. The two largest oil pipelines are the [[Greater Nile Oil Pipeline]], which travels 1,600 kilometres from the Unity oil field to [[Port Sudan]] on the [[Red Sea]] via Khartoum, and the [[PetroDar]] pipeline, which extends 1,380 kilometres from the Palogue oil field in the Melut Basin to Port Sudan.<ref>Anon (no date), [http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/petrodaroperatingco/ 'Melut Basin Oil Project, Sudan'], ''www.hydrocarbons-technology.com''. Retrieved on 6 March 2008.</ref><ref>European Coalition on Oil in Sudan 2007, [http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf 'ECOS Fact Sheet'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913095104/http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS%20factsheetII%20October%202007.pdf |date=13 September 2008 }}, ''www.ecosonline.org'', October, p. 4. Retrieved on 6 March 2007.</ref>

Crude oil from the Muglad Basin is known as "Nile Blend" and is refined at the [[Sudan Khartoum Refinery Company|Khartoum crude oil refinery]]. In 2006, the [[China National Petroleum Corporation]] upgraded the Khartoum refinery, doubling its capacity to {{convert|100000|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. Oil from the Melud Basin is known as "Dar Blend" and is refined at the [[Port Sudan Refinery]], which has a capacity of {{convert|21700|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. In 2005, the Sudanese government contracted [[Petronas]] to build a new refinery at Port Sudan.<ref name="Country analysis brief: Sudan" />