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SOUTH SUDAN has given the head of its largest foreign oil producer, Petrodar, until Saturday to leave the country, after accusing the Sino-Malaysian firm of helping Sudan steal its oil.

The expulsion is the latest development in a long-standing row between South Sudan and its northern neighbour. The south took three-quarters of the country’s oil production when it seceded last July, but lacks any infrastructure to export it, instead relying on two Sudanese-owned pipelines.

Despite months of negotiations, however, the two countries have not been able to agree on how much South Sudan should pay for using the pipelines. According to the Sudan Tribune, the south has been insisting on paying no more than US$1/bbl, while Sudan has been asking for more than US$30/bbl. Both governments now claim to be owed money by the other, with the north asking for US$1b in unpaid fees and the south accusing Sudan of “looting” US$815m in seized oil revenues.

Oil minister Dhieu Dau says that the company broke a memorandum of understanding by helping authorities in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to seize three of its oil shipments, and claims it under-reported production figures by 40,000 bbl/d. Speaking to the Sudan Tribune, he said he “felt it would be better if individual members, especially some heads of the foreign oil companies who are not respecting the terms of [the agreement], be replaced.”

Petrodar, which is mostly owned by China National Petroleum and state-owned Malaysian oil firm Petronas, has denied any wrongdoing.

The issue came to a head in January, when South Sudan completely shut down all350,000 bbl/d of oil production – 230,000 bbl/d of which was operated by Petrodar. It made the move in response to Sudanese plans to levy an unspecified percentage of southern oil in lieu of pipeline fees. The government relies on oil revenues for 98% of its income, and at time of writing is in the process of trying to halve its national budget to account for the shortfall.

It has also announced plans to review all oil contracts it inherited from the pre-split government, with Dau saying that: “We are in a different era and under a complete different system. We are [an] independent state with complete authority in areas under territorial jurisdiction of the republic of South Sudan.”