Juba accuses Khartoum of diverting oil worth 446$ million
November 28, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Petroleum minister, Puot Kang Chol has accused Sudan of diverting its oil worth $446 million, raising fears of strained relations between the two neighbouring nations.
Chol, in a statement, said over 28000 barrels of oil have been diverted to Sudan’s refineries and that Sudan built a pipeline with intentions to continue diverting oil.
“We must push Sudan to pay Transitional Financial Arrangement (TFA) arrears. Ministry of Petroleum has called on the government to aggressively demand the transitional financial arrangement dues from the Sudanese government”, he explained.
Chol said Juba has so far paid $3.028 billion since Khartoum demanded the transportation of oil to the international market, but the latter is yet to honor its responsibility.
“This continuous inland lifting of 28,000 barrels per day of our crude oil has accumulated to the sum of $136 million as of March 2022 which was reconciled and signed by the two countries, and the figure starting from April to October 2022 stands at $310 million, making an average monthly inland lifting of about $30 million per month,” said Chol.
He added, “This means the total figure starting from March 2022 to October 2022 amounts to $446 million due to the Republic of South Sudan”.
According to Chol, there have been several efforts by the Petroleum ministry to engage Sudan, but with little success. He said both countries disagreed on a new arrangement that required that South Sudan should pay for transportation, processing and transit fees.
He said the aim of Sudan is to maintain the TFA and that Sudan has increased the 28,000 barrels of crude oil unilaterally by 2,000 barrels per day without the consent of Juba.
According to Chol, the Sudanese minister of Petroleum and his Presidential Affairs counterpart were in Juba to discuss the issue, but that he was blocked from the meeting.
“They did not want me to be part of the meeting because they said I was causing problems between Sudan and South Sudan, which was not my intention. “My intention is to take what is fair to you and leave what is fair to me, and that remains my intention,” he said.
Chol further said a high-level delegation would early next month travel to Khartoum to inform Sudanese authorities about South Sudan’s demand.
In 2013, South Sudan agreed under the terms of the 2012 deal to pay Sudan $9.10 per barrel for oil in addition to a fee of $15 per barrel in fulfillment of a $3.028 billion package called transitional financial arrangement (TFA). The TFA is meant to help Sudan cover the gap resulting from the loss of revenues due to secession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011.
(ST)