Sudan oil refinery where the newly-emerging oil-rich central African state has been under fire from U.S. imperialism for years. The leadership of the country is being hounded by the ICC which it is not a party to the Rome Statute., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
South Sudan Sees Big Revenue Boost from New Crude Deals
AFP
KHARTOUM: Sudan has authorized companies to transport oil from South Sudan, in line with a timetable that will release billions of dollars in crucial revenues stalled over security concerns.
“Ministry of oil gives directives to companies to reprocess, transport and export oil of South Sudan,” the SUNA news agency said in a dispatch.
The South’s government in Juba recently ordered oil companies to resume production after a 14-month dispute with Khartoum.
But it may still take months for significant income to reach their treasuries because of technical issues, industry experts say.
At talks in Addis Ababa recently, the two countries finally settled on detailed timetables to ease tensions, after months of intermittent border clashes, by resuming oil flows and implementing eight other key pacts.
The deals remained dormant after signing in September as Khartoum pushed for guarantees that South Sudan would no longer back rebels fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
At the AU-led talks in the Ethiopian capital, Sudan softened its stance on the security guarantees, allowing the oil agreement and others including a border buffer zone to go ahead, observers said.
The timetable set a March 24 deadline for both Juba and Khartoum to order a resumption of oil production, processing and transportation.
South Sudan split from the north in 2011 with roughly 75 percent of the 470,000 barrels per day of crude produced by the formerly unified country.
Refineries and export pipelines stayed under Khartoum’s jurisdiction but the two countries could not agree on how much Juba should pay to use that infrastructure.
South Sudan said petroleum provided 98 percent of its revenue.
The oil deal is worth $1 billion-$1.5 billion annually in transit fees and other payments for Sudan, an international economist has estimated.
Billions more dollars would reach South Sudan from its oil exports.
The timetable document says that after the order to resume, processing and transportation will occur as soon as technically possible.
Operators must conduct the start-up “in a technically and environmentally sound manner and in accordance with international best practice,” it says.
Oil companies in South Sudan include Malaysian state-owned Petronas, China’s National Petroleum Company (CNPC), and the Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC), a joint venture between Petronas and South Sudan’s government.
From a low of around seven pounds on the widely-used black market, Sudan’s currency has strengthened since the timetable agreement brought a more positive tone in relations with its neighbor.
The currency traded at just above six pounds for one United States dollar on Thursday.
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