FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury Department announced today that economic sanctions against Sudan have been applied to Sudan's state-owned oil enterprise Sudapet Ltd. and to the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company Ltd. (GNPOC), a joint venture in Sudan between the Government of Sudan, three foreign oil companies, and Sudapet. The foreign joint venture partners, which have not been designated, are the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Malaysia's state-owned oil company Petronas, and Canada's Talisman Energy Corporation.

The addition of GNPOC and Sudapet to the list of entities owned or controlled by or acting on behalf of the Government of Sudan means that U.S. persons and their foreign branches are prohibited from engaging in most trade and financial transactions with these entities, and that any GNPOC or Sudapet assets within the possession or control of U.S. persons are frozen.

Doing business with GNPOC or Sudapet, like doing business with the Government of Sudan, carries criminal penalties of up to $500,000 per violation for corporations and up to $250,000 for individuals, as well as imprisonment of up to 10 years. Civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation may be imposed administratively by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Today's announcement increases to 125 the total number of Government of Sudan entities designated by OFAC pursuant to Executive Order 13067 of November 3, 1997.