South Sudan encourages oil development despite waves of internal violence

Tribal clashes and cattle raiding attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of people in South Sudan will not affect the development of the oil industry, a top official said.

Pagan Amum said Sunday that the situation in Jonglei state — the site of large tribe-on-tribe attacks over the last several weeks — would not affect the planned exploitation of the state's oil fields.

South Sudan — the world's newest country — gets nearly all of its government revenue from oil fields. The people of South Sudan are among the poorest in the world. South Sudan split off from Sudan last July.

Last week South Sudan signed its first post-independence oil deals with the state petroleum companies of China, India and Malaysia for oil-producing concessions in Unity and Upper Nile states. The agreements replaced exploration and production agreements made previously with the Sudanese government in Khartoum.

Amum, the secretary-general of South Sudan's ruling political party, urged French oil giant Total and other investors in the region to sign similar agreements and resume their operations in Jonglei.

The United Nations estimates that more than 60,000 people in Jonglei have been affected by recent waves of violence, which began on Dec. 23 between the Murle and Lou Nuer ethnic groups. Last week, state officials said 57 Lou Nuer — mostly women and children — were killed in retaliatory attacks by the Murle in Akobo county.

Jonglei is home to Concession Block B, one of the largest oil blocks in South Sudan. Total holds a 32.5 per cent stake in Block B and is responsible for the exploration and development of the area's oil. Total acquired the stake in 1980 when the south was still part of Sudan, but suspended operations in 1985 due to the country's civil war.

On Tuesday in Ethiopia, South Sudan will resume talks with Sudan over the separation of the two countries' once-unified oil industry.

All southern oil must be pumped through pipelines in Sudan, but the two countries greatly disagree over the amount the south should pay for the use of the pipelines.

The general atmosphere between the sides is tense. In a statement Saturday, South Sudan's petroleum minister accused Khartoum of stealing 650,000 barrels of the south's oil at Port Sudan. Amum, who serves as South Sudan's chief negotiator in the talks, said South Sudan would not accept such "state piracy."

Amum said the south would develop alternative means of extracting its oil if Khartoum did not conduct its business fairly.

"We have a company like Toyota Tsusho of Japan which is almost completing a feasibility study and have lined up financing to build an alternative pipeline through Kenya," he said. Toyota Tsusho is part of the Japanese manufacturing giant Toyota Group.

Amum said South Sudan is already in discussions with Kenya and Toyota on the possible pipeline and is planning "trilateral talks."