The Arizona-based group, In Touch Mission International, claims negotiations between Fosters and Sudan appear to have taken place during or immediately following battles between government forces and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army around the Adar Yel oilfields in the western Blue Nile and northern Upper Nile regions. The relief agency warned the company its operations are vulnerable to attack by the SPLA, whose troops are located within 80 kilometres of its lands. Fosters signed on the weekend a deal with Sudan for an oil exploration and production agreement in a large concession 260 kilometres south of Khartoum.
Critics say the government is using oil revenues to fund the war.
Talisman, Canada's largest independent oil and gas company, is active in an area west of Fosters' concession. Its shares are trading at a discount because of a divestment campaign by human rights organizations critical of its activities in the country. Randy Pawliw, Fosters' president, has said he's concerned about his company becoming a target of human rights organizations. All copyrighted material belongs to its respective owners, and is provided solely for educational purposes of the reader.