A Sudanese government delegation is in Juba to meet South Sudanese officials on the implementation of the Cooperation Agreements.

The Minister of Petroleum, Dr Muhamed Zaid Awad, who is leading the delegation, says they will deliver a letter from President Omar al-Bashir to his counterpart, Salva Kiir.

He says the letter is on issues related to oil and economic cooperation between the two countries.

“We are hoping that this move will create an excellent atmosphere because we would like to invest this excellent atmosphere for a major cooperation in the area of oil production,” Dr Awad said.

For his part, the South Sudanese Minister of Petroleum, Stephen Dhieu, said he will hold a separate meeting with his counterpart.

They will specifically discuss oil as part of the cooperation agreements during this one-day visit of the minister.

“I’m happy to underline that the agreement on oil and other economic matters is one of the best agreements that is being implemented smoothly between the Republic of South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan,” Mr Dhieu stated.

In January 2015, Mr Dhieu said the government might renegotiate the financial assistance to Sudan because of falling oil prices.

The South Sudan government pays $15 to Sudan from the sale of each barrel of crude oil and nine US dollars for using the pipeline.

This was what the two countries agreed upon in the Cooperation Agreements as a means of raising three billion US dollars for financial compensation to the Sudan for the independence of South Sudan.

Stephen Dhieu Dau said the amount had become too high for the South Sudanese economy due to the decline in oil prices.

On 27 September 2012, Juba and Khartoum signed nine agreements on a range of pending issues that they had been negotiating since 2010, initially in accordance with the post-referendum agreement negotiations.

The parties have also been engaged in the negotiations of outstanding CPA issues, and have now reached several agreements relating to the CPA and the post secession issues. One of the contentious issues is the oil.