2013

Swedish Lundin is a hero in Norway following giant discoveries in the North Sea. At home, members of the wealthy oil family are accused of having contributed to war crimes in Sudan. The scandal includes Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

The Sudanese oil minister Awad al-Jaz arrived in Tehran on Sunday with a letter from president Omer Hassan al-Bashir to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

South Sudan has disputed reports claiming it may abandon a plan to develop a crude oil pipeline between its oil fields and the port of Lamu in neighbouring Kenya.

South Sudan hopes to sell several unexplored oil blocks for $1 billion in coming months, a finance official said, giving a potential lifeline for the African country's hobbled economy.
South Sudan has been hit hard by its decision to turn off its oil wells in a row with neighbouring Sudan over export fees a year ago, a move that triggered a deep recession and a shortage of foreign exchange.

South Sudan plans to break up large oil blocks and sell off smaller concessions for exploration, government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

For more than a year and a half, since South Sudan seceded from Sudan, presidents Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir and Salva Kiir Mayardit have failed to find common ground.

Construction of South Sudan’s oil pipeline, to by-pass reliance on neighbouring Sudan, will commence by October, the country’s petroleum and mining minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

The newly independent Republic of South Sudan may top the list of the world's fastest-growing economies in 2013. The main reason for this is that last year South Sudan experienced one of the most spectacular economic contractions of any state in modern times -- a situation that is expected to reverse in the year ahead.

Part of South Sudan's plan for growth involves joining the EAC. But could a resulting influx of skilled labour and cheap goods do more harm than good?

The American administration has criticised the Sudanese government for its continued refusal to allow the exportation of South Sudanese oil before disengagement with rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.