Sudan has decided to stop the oil exports of South Sudan because the two governments have not yet agreed on a transit fee for the new nation to export its oil through Sudan.
Sudan’s acting oil minister Ali Ahmed Osman told reporters yesterday that the government took the decision two weeks ago adding that the pipeline was still running and international companies would not be affected, Trend News reported.Mr. Osman said Sudan had been allowing South Sudan to continue exporting on the expectation that the transit fees would be paid in arrears, but they had already gone more than four months without an agreement.
He added that Juba owes to Khartoum 727 million dollars for using its oil infrastructure since the independence.
The Government of Sudan wants South Sudan to pay over 30 US dollars for each barrel of crude it exports, an excessive price in Juba’s view.
Delegations from both governments are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, discussing oil fees among other post-independence issues.