Natural Resource Management – 2005
2005
There were two main components of natural resources uses provision in Sudan’s 2005 CPA, the first focused on land-related conflict. The CPA provided that the Government of Sudan should exercise rights in land owned by the state through the appropriate or designated levels of government. The accord also established the National Land Commission and the Southern Sudan Land Commission to arbitrate between willing parties on issues related to land claims. The Land Commissions was mandated to study and record land use practices in areas where natural resource exploitation occurs. The second issue deals with sharing revenue from oil revenue. According to the CPA provision, after paying 2% of oil revenue to the oil producing states/regions in proportion to output produced in the respective state/region, fifty percent (50%) of net oil revenue derived from oil producing wells in Southern Sudan would be allocated to the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) as of the beginning of the Pre-Interim Period and the remaining fifty percent (50%) to the National Government and States in Northern Sudan.
The proposed land commissions were not established in 2005. Similarly, there was no record of the Southern Sudan receiving a 50% share of oil revenues. Nevertheless, it was estimated that the GoSS would receive $1.2 billion in oil transfers as per the GoS budget estimate of 2005.1 This estimate was disputed in November 2005 as the North claimed the Hedlig oil field, which was the main contributor of the estimated oil revenue for the South. The revised estimate was $700 million.2