Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa and the head of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP), announced early yesterday morning that Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to resume the production and export of South Sudan’s oil through Sudan within two weeks.

Idriss Mohamed Abdel Adir, the minister in the Office of the Sudanese President, signed the timetable agreement alongside South Sudan’s Pagan Amum Ukec after four days of negotiation in Addis Ababa.

Mbeki, who has been mediating talks between the two sides told the press that orders will be given in two weeks to the oil companies operating in South Sudan calling for production and export to resume via Port Sudan.

South Sudan halted oil production, which comprised 98% of their annual budget, early last year following disputes about processing fees levied on Juba.