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August 4, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A shipment of oil produced in South Sudan
has been prevented from leaving Port Sudan for dispute over fees, an
official in Juba said today.
JPEG - 39.5 kb
Sudan’s new currency sits behind a window at the central bank in
Khartoum, Sudan (AP)
Garang Deng, South Sudan’s oil minister, said that the oil tanker
contained 600,000 barrels and that Port Sudan authorities refused to
let it proceed to its destination unless it service fees are paid
upfront.
"We have failed to reach solutions with the government of Sudan that
would guarantee that the ship would depart at the specified time,"
Deng said.
"I have contacted the finance and energy ministers of the Northern
government but they refused to talk about it on the pretext that they
have meetings" he added.
The South Sudan official warned that shipment delay could inflict
penalties on Juba according to the terms of the contract with the
buyers. He provided no details on who the sale was made to or the
price.
The oil-rich nation became an independent state last month after its
citizens voted almost unanimously in favor of secession from the
Arab-Muslim dominated north. But the latter contains the
infrastructure and pipelines that transports the oil from the
landlocked South to Port Sudan.
Both sides are still negotiating the transit fees to be assessed per
barrel for usage of the pipelines. The figures proposed by Khartoum
initially were called "daylight robbery" by Juba.
South Sudan officials have threatened to seek other venues to export
their oil and rejected any revenue sharing arrangement similar to the
one that was in place prior to July 9th.
The first oil shipment containing 1 million barrels was made in July
out of Port Sudan without any issues.
But many observers believe that there are mounting signs of an
economic warfare between the two countries.
In recent weeks Khartoum and Juba traded accusations over the almost
simultaneous introduction of new currency in the two countries.
The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan said that the South
breached an understanding that the North and South would maintain one
currency for an interim period of at least six months.
Furthermore, the situation got more tense after Sudan said it rejected
a request from the South that old Sudanese pound in circulation in the
new country be exchanged with foreign currency or used in bilateral
trade.
It is estimated that $700 million worth of old Sudanese pound is
circulated in South Sudan. Khartoum said it has taken measures to
prevent the old notes from being sneaked from their Southern neighbor.
This week, the Central Bank of South Sudan reduced the window for
exchanging the old Sudanese pound from 90 days to 45. The North on the
other hand said banks would open once again over the Friday-Saturday
weekend to allow citizens to get new notes to "speed up" the process.
While the South would be hit if the old pound it had bought for
dollars in the run-up to independence would be worthless, there is
also a risk for the north: If the south tried exporting old notes back
there it would add to inflationary pressures.
(ST)
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