Egypt’s oil and gas blocks represent an intrusion into Sudanese territory, says Khartoum

Sudan grumbling about Halayeb oil exploration blocks: Oil and gas blocks in the Red Sea’s Halayeb offered by Egypt for sale through a tender on March 10 represent a direct intrusion into Sudanese territory, Saad al-Deen Hussein al-Bishri, minister of state at Khartoum's oil ministry, told Sudan’s state news agency on Wednesday. Reuters reports that al-Bishri termed the offering “an illegal operation that carries legal consequences.” Sudan has been making a claim to Halayeb since the 1950s. Egypt rejected a 2016 demand by Khartoum it open talks or seek seek international arbitration on the land, and Sudan complained last year that Halayeb residents voted in Egypt’s March presidential elections.