South Sudan oil firms decry illegal taxes at illegal checkpoints across the country
Oil companies in South Sudan face numerous illegal checkpoints and tax collection units that have emerged along the roads.
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South Sudan’s minister of Petroleum and Mining, Mr Stephen Dhieu, said there are delays and inefficiencies the firms in oilfields face when importing equipment including generators and fuel.
“They are complaining of the multiple taxes along the road from North Sudan to the oilfields,” said Mr Dhieu.
“This, because the roadblocks and checkpoints, hurt the smooth flow. It delays these investors,” he added.
South Sudan’s income is 98 per cent funded by oil.
Any interruption on crude oil production or delay has adverse effect on the nation’s fledgling economy.
The numerous checkpoints and taxation units are a new strain on oil extraction and export for South Sudan since Independence this year.
Use pipelines
Sudan and the splinter South Sudan are yet to agree on the fees to be paid for the new country to use the pipelines that run from oil fields to the export point in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Before Sudan split on July 9, more than one-quarter of its crude oil came from oil fields in the South, but the infrastructure was based in the North.
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