The government of South Sudan said President Omar al-Bashir’s threat to shut pipelines carrying the region’s oil if a deal was not reached before independence is out of place at a time when both parties are negotiating in Addis Ababa.
Yesterday, Mr. Bashir threatened to close the oil pipelines from the South if Khartoum and Juba did not reach an agreement on oil sharing before the independence of the South.GoSS spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin told SCR News that Mr. Bashir’s current tone displays a spirit of non-cooperation with the SPLM and NCP post-referendum taskforce negotiating in the Ethiopian capital.
He said 60 percent of North Sudan’s income comes from South Sudan oil and GoSS does not want the Northern economy to collapse.
Dr. Marial added that the North will have a share in the oil of South Sudan but not half of it.
He urged both governments to engage in a meaningful dialogue for their economies to sustain each other.
Dr. Marial said South Sudan needs more pipelines either through Kenya, or through Re Central Africa, Chad and Cameroon or even through Ethiopia and Djibouti.
He added that the oil being exported through North Sudan is just the tip of the iceberg.
Eighty percent of Sudan’s crude comes from South Sudan oil fields but the refineries and the main port for commercialization are in the north.
South Sudan’s economy survives mostly on oil revenue.
Any arrangements to discontinue South Sudan oil industry would have massive effects on its population.