Chinese petroleum company, Zhonguan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB), has begun drilling the first exploration well in the Gambella basin, west Ethiopia.ZPEB was contracted by Petronas, the Malaysian Petroleum Company that was given the Gambella concession in 2003, to undertake drilling works.
China now controls 40 percent of the oil development projects in the Sudan while Malaysia and India each have 30 and 25 percent stakes.
