Sudanese gov't denies report of less transparent oil revenues distribution

KHARTOUM, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — The Sudanese government Saturday denied the report that the government was not transparent in the distribution of the oil revenues between northern and southern Sudan.
    Sudanese Minister of Energy and Mining Al-Zubair Ahmed Hassan criticized the London-based Global Witness Organization, which issued a report last month saying the figures of oil sales published by the Sudanese government are “less than what had been actually announced by the oil companies.”
    The Sudanese minister said “the oil revenues are managed by a joint mechanism between the Sudanese government and the southern Sudanese government besides foreign observers.”
    “The Global Witness Organization report depended on inaccurate information and had not asked the Sudanese government about the real situation,” he added.
    The minister downplayed the negative effect of the report on the relationship between the partners to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), namely the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, saying “there is a full transparency in the distribution of the oil revenues as stipulated in the CPA.”
    The two sides have agreed, according to the CPA inked in 2005, to share the country’s oil revenues, as the South was stipulated to receive half of the official revenues of the oil extracted from the fields on its land.
    The oil revenues constitute 98 percent of the budget of southern Sudanese government.