Chinese oil worker killed in Sudan conflict state: embassy

A Chinese oil worker was killed and another wounded by unidentified gunmen in South Kordofan, Sudan's only oil producing state where the army is battling insurgents, the Chinese embassy said Monday.

"There was a violent incident against Chinese workers by unidentified armed men, which caused one death and one wounded," an embassy spokesman told AFP, adding that the attack took place in South Kordofan last Wednesday.

He said the embassy had raised its concerns with the Sudanese government, urging action to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals.

South Kordofan has witnessed heavy fighting since June between the Sudanese army and Nuba militiamen loyal to the SPLM-North, with which Darfur's main rebels movements formed an alliance to bring topple the regime in Sudan.

State-owned Chinese oil giant CNPC dominates the Sudanese industry and operates the two main oil producing consortiums.

This was not the first time its employees have been targeted in the volatile, ethnically-divided state, which borders Darfur and the newly independent south.

Five Chinese oil workers were killed in 2008 after being abducted in the Kordofan region in 2008, with officials in Khartoum blaming Darfur rebels.

The latest attack is a blow for the cash-strapped government, which is urgently seeking foreign investment to boost its crude output to help offset the loss of oil revenues after the formal independence of South Sudan in July.

The south produces three-quarters of Sudan's total output of around 470,000 barrels per day, but is locked in a bitter dispute with Khartoum about how much to pay for the use of the north's pipeline infrastructure, on which it depends to export its oil.