The two Sudans: still stuck in oil dispute
Posted: 29/01/2013 Filed under: African Security, Islam Al Tayeb | Tags: Abyei, Addis Ababa accord, dispute, oil exports, Omar al-Bashir, Salva Kiir, South Sudan, stalemate, Sudan, territorial disputes Leave a comment »
By Islam Al Tayeb, Research Analyst, IISS-Middle East
More than 18 months after South Sudan seceded from Sudan, oil remains a sticking point between the two countries. Last week, the stalemate appeared as intractable as ever, with South Sudan announcing plans to sell petroleum to Israel, and politicians in Khartoum vowing that no South Sudanese exports would reach Israel via Sudanese territory. A meeting between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his southern counterpart Salva Kiir before an African Union conference in Ethiopia this weekend (above) failed to break months of deadlock. There has now been no oil production in, or exports, from South Sudan for a year, depriving the government in Juba of around 98% of its budgeted revenues.
