The role of oil in the conflict in Sudan : implications on the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement, 2005-2009

Abstract

The study reported here analyzed impact of oil as a valuable natural resource on the progress in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (C P A) signed in Nairobi, Kenya in 2005 between the Government of the Republic of The Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army. The slow pace of implementation with regard to the sharing of oil revenues has two facets.

Firstly, the implementation of the Experts Report on boundaries that would have resolved the issue of the geographical location of the oil producing areas has not been accepted and ratified by the National Congress party (NCP) and the Misseriya tribe Secondly, the delay in the formation of the National Petroleum Commission caused suspicion between the two signatories since the determination of sharing of the oil revenues was to be implemented by this body.

In its absence or in its presence but with interference from the NCP, it is still not possible for the Sudan people's Liberation Movement/Sudan people's Liberation Army ( SPLM/A )and other interested parties to have access to the oil contracts and the amount of revenue generated so that the stipulated percentages of sharing can be seen to be genuine.

Other structural causes of the delay in implementation of the CPA are related to the militia and rebel activity in the regions close to the Southern region. This study recommends that the issues of the geographical location of the oil fields; oil exploration and production statistics and formulae for sharing be revisited so that the momentum gained when the CPA was signed, and the aspirations of the Southern Sudanese who are war weary are not lost.