A high-level South Sudanese delegation met with Sudan’s top leader in Port Sudan on Sunday as part of diplomatic efforts following the deployment of South Sudanese troops to a strategic, contested oilfield.
The delegation, led by President Salva Kiir’s security advisor Tut Gatluak, was received by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council. Gatluak delivered a written message from Kiir to al-Burhan, Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported.
In statements to SUNA, Sudan’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Maawiya Osman Khalid described the talks as focusing on the “brotherly relations” between the two nations, with an emphasis on energy, oil, trade and economic cooperation.
The Sudanese diplomat called the visit “one of the most important visits at this time.”
“General Al Burhan directed the relevant agencies in the country to meet with their brothers from South Sudan to discuss issues of mutual interests,” Osman said.
For his part, South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Monday Semaya Kumba, who was also part of the meetings, said the discussions were “very fruitful, very transparent, and very promising.” He said technical meetings between delegations would continue to address issues of mutual concern, particularly regarding the oil industry and trade.
“The two sides also agreed that the delegation will continue engaging in several meetings, bilateral meetings and technical meetings, to address issues of mutual concerns,” Semaya said.
The diplomatic meetings follow a recent tripartite security agreement that saw South Sudanese troops enter the Heglig oil field in Sudan’s West Kordofan state.
The field, which processes between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels of crude daily for export via pipelines to Port Sudan, was seized on Monday by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The deal, struck with both Sudanese warring parties, requires the RSF and SAF to withdraw from Heglig and allows South Sudanese forces to protect the installations from sabotage. Following the RSF takeover, SAF units retreated across the border into South Sudan, where they surrendered their weapons.
South Sudan’s state television broadcast footage showing its soldiers alongside RSF fighters in Heglig. The town hosts crucial oil infrastructure, including wells and a processing station, and is a key stop on the 1,600-kilometer pipeline carrying crude from South Sudan’s Unity oilfield to Port Sudan.
The loss of control over Heglig deals a significant financial blow to the Sudanese government based in Port Sudan, which relies on revenue from processing and transiting South Sudanese oil.