S Sudan seeks Sudan help in restoring oilfields
Iran Press TV
Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:45PM GMT
South Sudan has sought Sudan's assistance in restoring oilfields damaged during recent clashes between government and rebel troops.
The SUNA official news agency reported that South Sudanese Oil Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau, who met his Sudanese counterpart Makawi Mohammed Awad, said on Sunday that the visit aimed to benefit "from the Sudanese experience to resume the oil pumping at... Unity State's oilfields."
Unity is a key oil-producing region of South Sudan in which forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar have been battling government troops since mid-December.
The country's oil production has faced a major fall after the clashes broke out, depriving the nation of its major source of foreign currency.
Meanwhile, Awad affirmed Khartoum's readiness "for assisting South Sudan in the technical field," SUNA said.
Oil production accounted for over 95 percent of South Sudan's fledgling economy before the fighting erupted.
Fees which South Sudan pays to pump its oil for export through northern pipelines are also an important source of revenue for Sudan.
Last week, Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti said the two neighbors were discussing about forming a joint force to protect oilfields.
He added that Sudan would send 900 experts to help with the recovery of oil production affected by the skirmishes in South Sudan at the country's request.
Violent clashes erupted in South Sudan on December 15, 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused Machar of attempting to stage a coup. The former vice president denied the accusations.
On Friday, Machar's rebels lost control of Unity's capital Bentiu to South Sudanese government forces.
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.
The government in Juba is grappling with rampant corruption, unrest and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation.
MR/HN/AS
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