Sudan And South Sudan Clash Over Oil Export Fees

Sudan and South Sudan have not reached an agreement during discussions on revised oil export fees which South Sudan pays to Sudan to export oil from its ports, local outlet Radio Tamazuj reported on Thursday, quoting technical sources and officials.

South Sudan, a landlocked country in East Africa, broke from Sudan in 2011 and took with it around 350,000 barrels of day (bpd) in oil production at the time.

However, the only export oil pipeline out of South Sudan passes through its neighbor to the north, Sudan.

To access Port Sudan on the Red Sea, South Sudan is paying transit fees to Sudan for shipping its crude oil via the pipeline.

Now Sudan has proposed adjusting the export fees, due to logistics at the Bashayer oil terminal, according to the sources who spoke to Radio Tamazuj.

South Sudan’s exports via Sudan have only recently resumed after a nearly year-long hiatus due to the war in Sudan.

In early 2025, Sudan lifted the 10-month-long force majeure on the oil flows from South Sudan through Sudan, following new security arrangements and improved security conditions.

In March 2024, Sudan declared force majeure on crude oil exports from South Sudan, following a major rupture in the pipeline carrying crude from South Sudan to the port in Sudan in an area with active military activity.

South Sudan has also been considering alternative oil export routes.

In September last year, South Sudan’s presidency said that the country and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) were discussing the idea to build an alternative oil pipeline from the landlocked East African country to Djibouti via Ethiopia to boost crude export capabilities.

The statement came during the visit of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir to China and the CNPC offices to discuss reforms in South Sudan’s oil sector, “including improving oil production through establishing a new refinery and building distribution networks.”

Source: Oilprice.com