As we look back at the genocide and military conflict in Darfur, Sudan during 2007, the Sudan divestment movement in the U.S. has largely succeeded in bringing increased pressure on financial firms and companies involved in Sudan to sever their financial ties to the Government of Sudan.

A few of the many divestment-related news stories from the past year are highlighted below:

Institutional investors in Petrochina, a Chinese oil company with significant oil exploration projects in Sudan, faced shareholder pressure to divest from the company. Save Darfur, a U.S.-based advocacy group launched a campaign targeting Berkshire Hathaway, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton, three of the largest investors in Petrochina.

To date, Fidelity and Berkshire Hathaway have sold most or all of their Petrochina holdings. UBS also faced public protest over their underwriting of Petrochina’s IPO on the Shanghai stock exchange in November.

A number of companies pulled their investments and operations from Sudan in 2007 due to pressure from investors and human rights advocates. These companies included CHC Helicopter, Rolls Royce, Siemens, Weir Group, and Weatherford International.

In addition, two Japanese utilities, the Kansai Electric Power Company and Kyushu Electric Power Company announced that they would suspend oil imports from Sudan. Furthermore, Japan’s trade ministry was reportedly considering a total ban on imported oil from Sudan in Japan.

The U.S. Congress has also taken up the issue of Sudan divestment. In December, the U.S. House unanimously passed legislation that authorizes state- and municipal-level divestment from Sudan. This legislation also bars companies with Sudan involvement from receiving federal contracts. The bill had previously passed the Senate and was signed by President Bush on January 1st.

In 2008, watch for additional U.S. and European asset management firms and investment banks to face shareholder pressure and growing public scrutiny over their investments in Petrochina and other big oil companies in Sudan (India’s ONGC, Malaysia’s Petronas, and China’s Sinopec).