By Bonifacio Taban Kuich

June 9, 2011 (BENTIU) - The Chinese-run oil company operating in Unity State was assured that security was back to normal on Wednesday the day before South Sudan officials accused the northern army of bombing the state.

With a month left until South Sudan splits from the north, taking with it the lions share of the country’s known oil wealth, officials from the Greater Nile Petroleum Operation Company (GNPOC) visited Unity State on Wednesday to announce they would be moving their headquarters to the southern capital Juba. The Khartoum office will be run as a sub-branch after Sudan splits in July.

South Sudan voted to separate from the north in a referendum that was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended two decades of conflict. Despite Sudan’s president saying Khartoum would recognise the result, fighting in the disputed region of Abyei and the northern border state of South Kordofan have raised fears that conflict could resume. Around two million died in the last civil war.

The commissioner of Parieng County, Mabeak Lang, told Sudan Tribune on Thursday evening that division 9 of the South Sudan army (SPLA) was heavily bombed in Jaw payam [district] leaving 5 civilians dead and 15 seriously wounded.

Jaw payam border borders South Kordofan state, north of the shared border, where north Sudan’s army (SAF) have been undertaking military operations against northern units of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) since last weekend.

The fighting came after SAF hold ordered all SPLA units to move into South Sudan. During the civil war some groups north of the border in South Kordofan and Blue Nile took up arms with the SPLA against Khartoum. The SPLA and the soldiers both say they are northern Sudanese and have refused to move south or disarm.

However, before the bombing had been reported Unity State governor Taban Deng had given the visiting GNPOC officials assurances that the state was ready to support an increase in production. Governor Deng said they had agreed that GNPOC are going to work hard to support the sub-contractors companies, in Unity State.

He told Sudan Tribune that security in the key oil-producing state was now back to normal, despite rebel activities over the past few months. He assured GNPOC that South Sudan wanted to increase productivity so the government would have more resources to spend on public services such as education, health care and roads.

Almost all the revenue of the South Sudan government comes from oil. Under the 2005 peace agreement southern oil was split 50-50 with the north. After independence on July 9 a new deal will have to be made with Khartoum as all the refinaries and existing export routes run out of North Sudan.

Suon Xianshing, the president of Greater Nile Petroleum Operation Company, led the delegation to Unity State to discuss the company’s oil strategy after of southern independence and the decline in production in state.

The state-owned Chinese National Petroleum Corporation is the primary stakeholder in GNPOC, which runs a number of oil fields north of Bentiu. Sudan, India, and Malaysia are also junior partners in the consortium.

Xianshing, the new president for the company, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that GNPOC plans to build strong relations with both northern and southern officials in a common goal to increase productivity.

He added that he hoped the “oil industry will contribute [to] development” in the state, promising to move the heaquarters to Juba and hire more southerners.

South Sudan holds 75%-80% of Sudan’s oil, but oil companies worked closely with the Khartoum government during the war. South Sudanese who lost homes or family members during violent campaigns to clear lands for oil exploration have not been compensated.

During the six year period of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, on the whole, oil companies have failed to build strong ties with the southern government. Now, with the nation splitting, they no longer have any choice but to improve relations with South Sudan.

(ST)