* Move could anger rebels in area bordering S. Sudan
* W. Kordofan likely to contain govt allies, most oilfields
* Fighting has raged in remote territory more than a year
KHARTOUM, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Sudan will re-draw the borders in its main oil-producing region, state media said on Thursday, a move which could anger rebels fighting in the remote territory bordering South Sudan.
The change will create a West Kordofan state, which would likely cover an area containing many of the area's oilfields and dominated by largely pro-government Arab nomads.
The government did not provide maps of the new territory.
But it was likely areas left outside West Kordofan would include the underdeveloped Nuba Mountains, home to non-Arab ethnic minorities, many of whom have provided fighters for rebel forces seeking to overthrow the Khartoum government.
No one was immediately available for comment from the region's main rebel group SPLM-North.
The change would happen during Sudan's independence anniversary ceremonies - which usually begin on Jan. 1 - to "realise the desires of the people of the region," state news agency SUNA said in a brief report, quoting Vice President Ali Osman Taha.
More than a year of fighting between rebels and government forces in the border territories has strained relations with South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan last year under the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.
The partition left thousands of fighters who sided with the south during the civil war inside Sudan in the current state of South Kordofan.
The SPLM-North insurgents have continued to fight government forces, accusing Khartoum of marginalising their people.
Sudan has regularly accused South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-N fighters, a charge southern leaders dismiss.
It was unclear whether the new West Kordofan would include the area of Abyei - a territory claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan that has seen serious clashes between both sides' armies in recent years.
The area used to have a West Kordofan state but its territory was divided between the current states of North Kordofan and South Kordofan around the time of the 2005 peace deal between Khartoum and the south.
The SUNA report did not say whether the country would return to exactly the same boundaries as before the change. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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