Sudan: processing, pipeline and transit fees on South Sudan crude

Fees under the 2012 agreement

Sudan and South Sudan signed the Agreement on Oil and Related Economic Matters in Addis Ababa on 27 September 2012. Idriss Abdel Gadir signed for Sudan and Pagan Amum Okiech signed for South Sudan. Thabo Mbeki, chair of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel, signed as witness ¹.

Article 4 sets the fees. They apply to the South Sudan government's oil entitlement volumes only ¹. Article 4.3.1 calls the US$1.00 transit fee a special fee that shall not serve as a precedent. Sudan may set transit fees for other entitlements ¹.

The table shows the fees per barrel in Article 4. The totals add the three fees for each pipeline system ¹.

The Transitional Financial Arrangement

Article 4.4.1 sets the Transitional Financial Arrangement, or TFA, as a finite sum of US$3.028 billion. It is based on a rate of US$15.00 a barrel ¹. If the TFA is not fully paid 60 days before the term of the agreement ends, the balance falls due within 30 days before expiry ¹.

Sources differ on whether the TFA has been paid in full. Eye Radio reported on 1 March 2023 that Finance Minister Dier Tong told state broadcaster SSBC the payment was completed in March 2022 ². Radio Yei reported on 26 June 2025 that Juba had paid more than US$2.5 billion of the US$3.028 billion, with about US$500 million outstanding ⁵.

How payment works

Payments are based on volumes redelivered and lifted at the Port Sudan marine terminal, as shown on the bills of lading ¹. Sudan issues two invoices, one for fees and tariffs and one for the TFA. Payment is due 40 days from the bill of lading date ¹.

Payment goes by wire transfer through the Central Bank of South Sudan. Invoices are in US dollars. Sudan may ask for euros, pounds sterling or another convertible currency ¹.

Fees and TFA payments are paid in cash. Sudan may take payment in kind only at its request and with the prior written consent of South Sudan ¹.

Article 22.1 set a term of three years and six months from the first redelivery and lifting of South Sudan entitlement oil at the marine terminal ¹. Article 12.1 cancelled oil-related arrears and financial claims up to the date of the agreement ¹.

Pipeline disruption and fee talks since 2024

Sudan's petroleum minister declared force majeure on deliveries to a terminal near Port Sudan in a letter dated 16 March 2024, as reported by Reuters reporters Khalid Abdelaziz and Waakhe Simon Wudu. The letter cited gelling that restricted flows on 10 February and a later rupture in the pipeline, both in areas affected by fighting ³.

Before the stoppages, South Sudan sent about 150,000 barrels a day through Sudan, according to the same Reuters report ³.

Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum lifted the force majeure by a letter dated 4 January 2025, as reported by Reuters reporter Waakhe Simon Wudu. The letter cited new security arrangements agreed with Juba and BAPCO, the Sudanese company that operates the Petrodar pipeline ⁴.

Talks in Port Sudan on revised fees ended without a final agreement, as reported by Amnon Jakony of Radio Yei on 26 June 2025. Sudan proposed three fee categories: transit, processing adjusted for crude quality, and export logistics tied to the Bashayer terminal ⁵.

Sudanese officials told Radio Yei the PETCO line carried about 28,000 barrels a day, down from about 90,000 before the February 2024 shutdown ⁵. Radio Yei listed the US$8.40 tariff as PETCO transit ⁵.

Where to read the agreement

The full text of the 27 September 2012 agreement is published on the PA-X Peace Agreements Database ¹. Articles 4, 5 and 22 cover the fees, the payment procedure and the term ¹.