Sudan plans to auction five oil blocks in December, its petroleum minister said on Sunday, as the African country steps up exploration. "We are going to have a bid round next month," Oil Minister Awad al-Jaz told reporters in Abu Dhabi. The blocks will include three offshore and two onshore, he said. Sudan had awarded nine exploration blocks to consortiums formed by companies from Canada, Brazil and the Middle East, Jaz told Reuters last year.
French explorer Maurel & Prom signed a memorandum of understanding with Sudan for an offshore block, a government official said last year.