Juba won't end oil production boycott

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- There are no plans to end a boycott on crude oil production despite Sudan's decision to release crude oil tankers, the South Sudanese president said.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said his country lost more than $850 million because the northern government was confiscating oil exports from the south.

"We acknowledge that most of the oil infrastructure lies on the territory of Sudan, however, the oil clearly belongs to South Sudan," he was quoted by the Platts news service as saying.

"This unilateral decision to take our crude entitlements is unmistakably a violation of the sovereignty of South Sudan and must be condemned."

South Sudan in late January said it wasn't producing any oil until disputes with Sudan are resolved. Kiir maintained, during a speech in Ethiopia, that negotiations would continue, however.

South Sudan became an independent nation in July as part of a peace agreement reached in 2005. The agreement is threatened by border conflicts and disputes over oil.

South Sudan's independence gave it control over 75 percent of the oil reserves held by a united Sudan though the Sudanese government to the north controls oil pipelines and export terminals.

Landlocked South Sudan had said it was exploring options with its western neighbors to build pipelines to their ports.