North & south Sudan fix oil export glitch: ambassador
May 29, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The neighboring states of north and south Sudan fixed a technical issue at an export facility that forced Juba to cut its production by half last week, an official said today. South Sudan’s Petroleum and Mining Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau (3rd R) applauds as he restarts oil production in the main oil field in Palouge, after a 16-month shutdown on May 5, 2013 (Reuters) South Sudan’s ambassador in Khartoum Mayan Dut Wol told Reuters that his country’s oil shipment should be loaded in the second half of June. "The oil is flowing... We expect it to arrive on the 13th, 14th or 15th in Port Sudan," Wol said, adding that it would be loaded on vessels around June 20. Last week, Juba accused Khartoum of instructing oil companies to stop production from some oil fields which threatened to drastically derail a deal signed last March allowing for resumption of oil flow after more than a year of being suspended. The Sudanese government however, denied this saying that it s a result of a technical issue. Officials at the South Sudan’s petroleum and mining ministry said the stoppage began when security operatives “tied nuts” and chased away oil workers from the Tharjath oil field in Unity state. At the time, South Sudan president Salva Kiir pledged to halt oil production if Khartoum continues these "playing tactics". The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir this week himself warned Juba that he will shut down the pipelines carrying oil from the landlocked south into the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan if it does not stop backing anti-Khartoum insurgents. But South Sudan ambassador downplayed Bashir’s threats describing it as "emotional" outburst of the president he has got used to since growing up in Khartoum. "I am not shocked," Wol told Reuters. "We know the president, we know him," he said, laughing. He said bilateral meetings have been going on normally since the speech for both sides to work out details on oil, trade and border security deals which were incorporated in last March’s implementation matrix. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oqWJEg7kZbMY6SH12iuFD8R5pijytC4NWnFteH4LVTc8w%40mail.gmail.com?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
