Khartoum, September 07: A failure to provide full oil production figures in Sudan threatens a fragile north-south peace deal, the advocacy and investigative group Global Witness warned in a report on Monday.
The London-based organisation said there were “serious questions” about the fair sharing of oil revenues — since oil is drilled in the south but controlled and sold only by former civil war enemies in the north.
An equal share of oil revenues was the cornerstone of the 2005 peace deal that ended the 22-year long civil war in Sudan, Africa’s largest nation, in which at least 1.5 million people died.
“Unless the government of southern Sudan and Sudanese citizens can verify that the revenue sharing is fair, mistrust will grow and the peace agreement could be jeopardised,” said Rosie Sharpe, who penned the report.
While many of the oilfields are found in the south, the only pipelines to the Red Sea coast are controlled by the north.
According to the report, oil production figures from south Sudan released by Khartoum were lower than those provided by the companies which drilled the oil, by some 9-14 percent in 2007 and 26 percent in 2005.
However, figures for oil drilled only in the north — and therefore outside the revenue sharing deal — do approximately match those provided by drilling companies, the report added.
“If the oil figures published by the Khartoum government aren’t right, the division of the money from that oil between north and south Sudan won’t be right,” added Sharpe.
A potential underpayment of even 10 percent would mean the south were owed 600 million dollars (420 million euros), the report added — an amount three times higher than the combined annual budgets for health and education in the south.
The south, which gets about 98 percent of its revenues from the oil, is not involved in the accounting of the oil sales.
Global Witness called for a third-party check of Sudan’s oil figures, which it said are released by the Khartoum government but are not independently verified.
“Our findings do not necessarily mean that Khartoum has cheated the south out of money, but they do highlight the need for transparency,” said Sharpe.
Tensions remain high between north and south Sudan, which remains divided by the religious, ethnic and ideological differences over which the war was fought.
Sharpe also urged the international community to press for more transparency, in order to guarantee stability in Sudan.
“The peace agreement’s international guarantors, including the UK, US and Norway, need to do more to promote transparency,” she added.
“China and Japan, who are the main customers for Sudanese oil, should also push for greater transparency, which will help ensure stability and a reliable supply.”
Under the deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war, the south has a six-year transitional period of regional autonomy and takes part in a unity government until the 2011 referendum on self-determination.
Sudan is preparing for general elections due in April.
–Agencies