Opportunity cost - Oil fuels tension in run-up to Sudan referendum

With just two years to go until South Sudan holds a referendum on full independence, tensions are high in the borderland provinces that account for a large proportion of the country's oil production.

Both Sudan, centred on Khartoum, and the South Sudanese government, with its capital in Juba, lay claim to Blue Nile State, Nuba Mountains/Southern Kordofan and the Abyei region. Under the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a revenue sharing formula has been worked out to allow both sides to share the disputed regions' hydrocarbon wealth.

However, military clashes in Abyei during 2008 suggest that a return to full-scale conflict remains a significant risk. 107 of 1,641 words