JUBA, Feb 09, 2012 (AFP) - The world community must intervene in a dangerous oil dispute between South Sudan amid mounting tensions and war rhetoric, Global Witness said on Friday.
The plea came as the two nations meet for the latest round of African Union (AU) brokered talks in Ethiopia to secure a deal on sharing oil revenues, weeks after the south halted production after accusing the north of "stealing" its crude.
"The AU, China, and western governments must push for an immediate resolution to the ongoing oil dispute between Sudan and South Sudan", the British-based campaign group said in a statement.
"Public exchanges between the governments have become increasingly tense, both referring to the possibility of renewed war, as they appear to be preparing for confrontation along the border", it added.
After decades of civil war, landlocked South Sudan seceded from Sudan with three quarters of the crude oil, or roughly 350,000 barrels, but relies on northern infrastructure to export it through a pipeline to Port Sudan.
The two nations have locked horns over how much the south should pay as a transit fee.
While the south claims $815 million worth of southern crude has been "stolen", Sudan claims it has confiscated oil as "payment in kind" until a deal is struck.
Reliant on oil for 98 percent of its revenues and one of the poorest countries in the world, South Sudan recently turned off the taps.
This drastic step has soured already delicate relations with the cash-strapped north which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates will lose $7.7 billion in revenues over the next four years.
"The longer this dispute goes on and both economies continue to suffer, the more likely it is that the situation will escalate", said Global Witness campaigner Dana Wilkins.
Global Witness could not see either country being able to compensate for the loss of revenues resulting from "unilateral" actions to interrupt the sale of oil.
If the international community doesnt push for a properly brokered oil deal now and prevent the situation deteriorating further, "the intense mistrust which has fuelled the current dispute will come up time and time again", Wilkins warned.
South Sudan recently announced it had signed agreements to build pipelines to the Kenyan port of Lamu and to Djiboutis Red Sea port via Ethiopia in a bid for "economic independence".
hmc/bb/ach
