South Sudan ships first oil cargo

Khartoumsouth sudan has shipped its first oil cargo through Sudan to international markets since 2011 as its vice-president visited Khartoum to defuse a row that threatened the cross-border flows vital to both.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Khartoumsouth sudan has shipped its first oil cargo through Sudan to international markets since 2011 as its vice-president visited Khartoum to defuse a row that threatened the cross-border flows vital to both.Sudan told its landlocked African neighbour three weeks ago it would close the two cross-border export pipelines to Port Sudan within two months unless Juba gave up supporting rebels operating across the shared border.South Sudan, which needs to export oil through Sudan, denies the claims. In a previous dispute over pipeline fees, South Sudan in January 2012 shut down its entire output of around 300,000 barrels per day, but both agreed in March to resume the flow.South Sudan’s information minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said the first cargo of state-owned oil had left Port Sudan on the Red Sea, without giving details. The African country previously sold one million barrels of oil in its first tender since restarting output.The first shipment of non-government South Sudanese oil took place last week, and traders said it probably belonged to China National Petroleum Corporation, which had sold 1.2 million barrels at the start of June.Khartoum had earlier said it will allow the sale of oil already on Sudanese soil.