SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan president returns home from AU summit in Ethiopia and his chief negotiator in the oil dispute with Sudan tells the media what the problems are, after a dispute erupted between its northern neighbour over transit fees

Record ID: 344167

  • Title: SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan president returns home from AU summit in Ethiopia and his chief negotiator in the oil dispute with Sudan tells the media what the problems are, after a dispute erupted between its northern neighbour over transit fees
  • Date: 1st February 2012
  • Summary: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (JANUARY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WAVING SOUTH SUDAN FLAGS AHEAD OF LEADERS' ARRIVAL SIGN FOR JUBA AIRPORT/SOUTH SUDAN FLAG IN FRONT MORE OF PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS AND LINING THE RUNWAY PRESIDENT OF SOUTH SUDAN SALVA KIIR STEPPING OFF PLANE MAN BLOWING WHISTLE/PEOPLE DANCING KIIR GREETING CROWDS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DANCING AND DRUMMING KIIR MOVING THROUGH THE CROWD MEN DANCING IN TRADITIONAL COSTUME KIIR WAVING TO CROWDS FROM TOP OF A CAR SOUTH SUDAN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR PAGAN AMUM SPEAKING TO MEDIA JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAGAN AMUM, SOUTH SUDAN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR SAYING: "NCP government of Sudan, they have just turned themselves into worse than pirates." VARIOUS OF JOURNALIST WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAGAN AMUM, SOUTH SUDAN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR SAYING: "This is not the first pipeline that is moving between two countries. In the whole world we brought it to them. None, no country is paying more than 1 dollar for transit per barrel." VARIOUS OF OIL WORKERS FLUSHING OUT OIL WELL OIL WORKER STANDS IN FRONT OF OIL STORAGE FACILITY VARIOUS OF PIPES AT OIL CENTRAL PROCESSING FACILITY
  • Embargoed: 16th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Sudan, South Sudan
  • Country: South Sudan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA85DZ40423D1GQPODTFOQ9PZGQ
  • Story Text: South Sudan President Salva Kiir was given a hero's welcome when he returned from an African Union summit, the venue for another collapse of negotiations with Sudan.
    Landlocked and oil-rich South Sudan is locked in a spiralling dispute with Sudan over how much it should pay its northern neighbour to transit its crude through pipelines.
    Seven months after South Sudan seceded, old rivalries have simmered on the negotiating table and along the poorly defined border, with Juba accusing Khartoum of looting oil and bombing its territory in the same week.
    At a media briefing after Kiir's arrival, the government's chief negotiator Pagan Amum told journalists Sudan's decision to seize South Sudan's oil over the dispute amounts to piracy.
    "NCP the government of Sudan, they just turned themselves into worse than pirates," Amum said.
    He accused Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of trying to force the Petrodar oil company to load ships with 600,000 barrels of South Sudan's oil, one day after he released four other vessels carrying 815 million US dollars of crude.
    Sudan is demanding 36 US dollars per barrel that passes through its territory, and says it has taken oil in lieu of payments. Meanwhile the South point to international norms of less than 1 US dollar per barrel for transit fees, and last week shut down their entire oil production of some 350,000 barrels per day, shocking investors and oil traders.
    "This is not the first pipeline between two countries. In the whole world we brought it to them. No country is paying more than one dollar for transit fees per barrel," said Amum.
    With tensions mounting in both capitals, analysts say prolonging the standoff will be catastrophic for both economies and hope the brinkmanship will end before the old civil war foes are drawn back to the bush.
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