JAPAN: South Sudan to build new pipelines regardless of oil agreement with Khartoum.

Record ID: 344254

  • Title: JAPAN: South Sudan to build new pipelines regardless of oil agreement with Khartoum.
  • Date: 5th September 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 5, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOUTH SUDANESE MINISTER OF FINANCE KOSTI MANIBE NGAI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE AT JAPAN NATIONAL PRESS CLUB NGAI ADDRESSING NEWS CONFERENCE JAPAN NATIONAL PRESS CLUB LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTH SUDANESE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING KOSTI MANIBE NGAI, SAYING: "As for the alternative pipeline, as a matter of policy, the government of South Sudan has decided to proceed with it whether the agreement with Khartoum is struck or not." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTH SUDANESE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING KOSTI MANIBE NGAI, SAYING: "We are moving towards putting the idea of an alternative pipeline really into concrete terms so that its actual implementation can start sooner rather than later." MORE OF NGAI ADDRESSING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF NGAI STANDING TO RECEIVE GIFT FROM JAPAN NATIONAL PRESS CLUB MODERATOR
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Environment,Politics,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVACW9WJ5P10OERSXAF9V78SXFYA
  • Story Text: South Sudan's finance minister says his country will press on with plans to build oil pipelines outside Khartoum's control -- regardless of the outcome of negotiations to restart oil transit through Sudan.
    South Sudan's finance minister said on Wednesday (September 5) his country will press on with plans to build a new pipeline outside the control of its northern neighbour.
    Landlocked South Sudan shut down its vital oil output in January after failing to agree with Khartoum how much it should pay to export through Sudan, its only pipeline to the international market.
    Talks have resumed in Ethiopia this week that mediators hope will produce a deal to clear the way for the two countries to resume oil exports.
    But on a visit to Japan to drum up private sector investment, South Sudanese Finance Minister Kosti Manibe Ngai told reporters Juba was still looking for alternative ways to sell its oil.
    "As for the alternative pipeline, as a matter of policy, the Government of South Sudan has decided to proceed with it whether the agreement with Khartoum is struck or not," Ngai said.
    South Sudan is examining two options: a pipeline through Kenya to the Indian Ocean or a route via Ethiopia and Djibouti. An inter-governmental agreement on the Kenyan option -- backed by investment from Toyota -- is due by the end of September, Ngai said.
    "We are moving towards putting the idea of an alternative pipeline really into concrete terms so that its actual implementation can start sooner rather than later," Ngai added.
    This is the latest in a series of disputes since South Sudan split from its northern neighbour over a year ago under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war.
    But the oil stoppage has taken a heavy economic toll on both nations.
    Oil used to provide over half of state revenues in Sudan and accounted for about 98 percent of government income in South Sudan before the shutdown.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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