2011

Part of an oil field in South Sudan’s oil-rich Unity State caught fire on Wednesday causing a decline in production, according to local officials.

Sudan and South Sudan are due to enter a new round of negotiations aimed at resolving their dispute over oil in mid-January, AU mediators have announced.

The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has made proposals to have representatives from oil companies included in the next round of post-session negotiations mediated by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Pagan Amum, its chief negotiator said on Monday.

Sudan will invite bids from firms to operate in six new oil and gas blocks early next year, the oil minister said on Monday, as the country moves to compensate for the loss of the crude-producing south.

China has encouraged Sudan and South Sudan to peacefully resolve their disputes over oil and border, warning of far-reaching consequences should the recently separated countries fail to do so.

China is sending its special envoy for African affairs, Liu Guijin, to help push oil negotiations over between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan.

Sudan's government denied it's blocking two South Sudanese oil shipments through its pipeline and said it was confident of defending any legal action taken by its southern neighbor over the dispute.

South Sudan warned all foreign oil companies, the oil consortia and pipeline operators in the country not to cooperate with Sudan on crude oil-related matters, unless authorized.
The directive was contained in a press release issued by the South Sudan’s petroleum and mining ministry following reports of Sudan’s apparent intention to confiscate 23% of the south’s entitlement oil allegedly as payment in kind for pipeline and transit fees.

Sudan on Wednesday denied it had halted landlocked South Sudan's oil exports in a transit fee row, but said the country had confiscated crude shipments to make up for payments it claims South Sudan owes.

The South Sudan government on Wednesday reacted negatively to reports that Sudan plans to take 23% of the new country’s oil exports, saying it will consider suspending oil production if north Sudan continues to impose high transportation and refinery costs.