Sudan and South Sudan agreed Tuesday to consider setting up a joint force to protect vital oilfields along the common borders, South Sudan’s information minister said.
“There is an agreement between the two oil ministries of the two countries. They agreed to cooperate and resume oil production… The two sides agreed on the deployment of a joint force to protect the oilfields along the common borders,” Minister Michael Makuei said today.
The proposed deployment, Makuei said, would cover and protect all oilfields that are located along the border between the two countries.
A Sudanese delegation led by foreign minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed visited Juba on Tuesday as South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar prepare for face-to-face talks this month.
Oil production in South Sudan has been affected since the fighting erupted in 2013. The young nation’s major oil-producing states are among the areas affected by the ongoing civil war.