Economics
Oil Deal May Win Back Sudan Some Influence Over Former Enemy
- War-torn South Sudan’s crude still vital to northern neighbor
- New cooperation may cede some autonomy gained at independence
Photographer: Trevor Snapp/Bloomberg
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Sudan lost three-quarters of its oil reserves when the south seceded in 2011. A four-year civil war in Africa’s youngest nation may be letting it reassert control.
Electricity, building materials, safe lodgings for workers -- South Sudan’s former ruler is offering them all to help restore output in a key northern region. That shows how vital sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest oil reserves remain to Sudan, whose landlocked neighbor pays it $25 per barrel to transport the resource to the Red Sea. It could also be a strategy to discourage South Sudan from seeking other export routes.