Sudan's president orders change to oil deal with South Sudan
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Sudan's state-run news agency says the Sudanese President Omar Bashir has ordered revisions to the economic agreements struck with South Sudan in a positive gesture to the breakaway southern state.
SUNA said that the changes come after a visit by South Sudan's foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin in January when he requested a reduction in the fees Khartoum charges for processing and transporting oil from South Sudan to its northern neighbor.
The pipeline between the two countries is operated by Khartoum's government.
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The request was made following a sharp decline in international oil prices. Sudan charges $24.5 a barrel, according to an economic deal struck in 2012.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after years of civil war.