Sudan-S.Sudan rivals still far apart in oil talks: minister

Sudan and South Sudan still remain far apart in negotiations to resolve a furious oil dispute threatening to take the former civil war foes back to conflict, a minister said Tuesday.

"The gulf is still huge, I don't know if it can be bridged," Nhial Deng Nhial, the South's foreign minister, told AFP in the Ethiopian capital where the two sides are holding talks.

South Sudan took three quarters of Sudan's oil when it gained independence, but all pipeline and export facilities are controlled by the north.

Last month, the South halted oil production -- accounting for 98 percent of government revenue -- after Juba accused Khartoum of stealing $815 million worth of crude oil.

Nhial said Khartoum is demanding transit and other fees many times higher than the international standards Juba believes are fair.

"We would want to discuss transit fees in line with international standards," Nhial said. "The only thing we are obliged to pay is the transit fee and we are ready to discuss that."

Tensions are high, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that a failure to resolve the bitter dispute could threaten regional security.

Both sides signed a non-aggression pact on Friday, but Juba's military said the agreement was broken two days later, when Sudanese warplanes bombed a disputed border area, wounding four Southern soldiers.

"I feel Khartoum has just signed it for public relations, I don't think they intend to abide by it," said Nhial of the pact. "You cannot rule out the possibility of war being triggered by Khartoum."

Pagan Amum, the South's chief negotiator, said Khartoum had seized a further 2.4 million barrels of oil. He said a deal could only be reached if Sudan had a "change of heart."

Despite a failure to agree, north Sudanese negotiators say the mood of negotiations is more cooperative than recent fractious efforts.

"Both sides are feeling the heat... there is a need to sit down and talk and agree, we learned the hard way, but I hope it will continue," said Sabir Mohamed Hassan, a member of Sudan's negotiating team.

"We also agreed that there is no resumption of export unless we reach an agreement, so we have to sign a treaty."

The set of talks are expected to wrap up Wednesday, with both sides expected to set another date for a fresh round.

Talks are not only about oil: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has said a deal must also address issues left unresolved at the South's independence.

Those include settlement on the undemarcated border, parts of which cut through oil fields, as well as on the future of the flashpoint of Abyei, a region claimed by both sides but occupied by northern troops.