Khartoum to consider renegotiating S. Sudan oil transit fees

Sudan is ready to renegotiate the fees paid by South Sudan to transport its oil through northern pipelines, Sudan’s government spokesman Ahemd Bilal Osman said.

In an interview with Radio Tamazuj, Bilal confirmed that the two countries have made contacts in order to reconsider the previous agreement on oil transit fees through the Sudanese infrastructure.

Bilal acknowledged South Sudan's threat to to stop pumping oil over continued payment of over 24 US dollars per barrel to Khartoum despite a drop in the price of its crude oil to under 30 dollars per barrel.

The Sudanese official hinted that there is a proposal to help remedy the crisis, though he did not give more details.

Sudanese Minister of Finance, Badreldin Mahmoud recently announced technical arrangements in anticipation of the possible closure of the South Sudanese oil.

Speaking at the Sudanese Parliament, the Finance Minister accused the Juba government of failing to pay oil transit fees. Mahmoud added that they decided to take their share of the South Sudanese oil in kind base on the Joint Cooperation Agreement.

Non-transparent oil sector

Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) published a report on Thursday about the lack of transparency in Sudan's oil sector, which has 'raised suspicions and allegations of corruption that encompass all upstream and downstream operations of the oil industry'.

Corruption is a well-established phenomenon in Sudan, the activists write. 'Although Sudan lost two-thirds of its known oil reserves in 2011, following the secession of South Sudan, allegations of corruption and lack of transparency continue. It is of utmost importance for the current Ingaz regime (1989-present) and any other future government, to tackle the lack of transparency to dispel current and future accusations of corruption.'

SDFG publishes investigative reports to that document the lack of transparency and corruption in Sudan. Recently, the group wrote about corruption related to cooking gas, police, and football matches.

The group recommends that 'the current government must take all accusations of corruption within the oil sector seriously through proper independent investigation and publishing of all information pertaining to these accusations and the oil sector in general'.

(Radio Tamazuj, SDFG)