2012

The governor of Unity state in South Sudan disclosed to Sudan Tribune that Khartoum’s forces attacked Jau payam [district] last Friday.

Negotiations between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan over oil officially started on Sunday as Khartoum indicated a relaxation in Juba’s decision to halt production of the commodity.

The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir blasted the South Sudan government saying that their decision to suspend oil production amounts to “suicide”.

A high level delegation from South Sudan has been in Kenya through the
week to initiate negotiations with over rights of passage for the 2,000 kilometre crude oil pipeline the country has decided to build to connect its oil fields to the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu.

Sudan ordered oil companies to load 2.6 million barrels of South Sudanese crude for export last month without its neighbor’s authority, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.

South Sudan and Ethiopia’s governments signed a memorandum of understanding to build an oil pipeline via Djibouti, South Sudanese Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

The government of South Sudan is in talks with a Texas-based company to explore options for building an oil pipeline which would serve as an alternative to the one passing through the territories of Sudan.

Total SA (FP), France’s biggest oil company, said it plans to resume exploration work in South Sudan’s Block B.

A joint commission is being formed to move plans forward on the pipeline to take South Sudan crude to Kenya’s Port Lamu for export.

The president of South Sudan warned Thursday of renewed conflict with former foes in north Sudan if bitter oil negotiations do not include a deal on other key issues, including the contested Abyei region.