South Sudan explores oil pipeline options

South Sudan needs to explore alternatives for getting its oil to market following disputes with the northern government, a minister said. South Sudan announced this week it stopped oil deliveries to the north following disputes over revenue generated from oil sales. Barnaba Benjamin, South Sudan's information minister, was quoted by the online Oil & Gas Journal as saying Juba was exploring pipeline options with its eastern neighbors. "We have started practical steps to rapidly construct a pipeline through eastern Africa, namely via Kenya and Uganda," he was quoted as saying. "We expect the pipeline to be completed in 10 months." South Sudan became an independent nation in July as part of a peace agreement reached in 2005. The agreement is threatened by border conflicts and disputes over oil. Benjamin said authorities have discussed pipeline potential with Kenyan officials for several years before South Sudan gained independence. South Sudan's independence gave it control over 75 percent of the oil reserves held by a united Sudan though the Sudanese government to the north controls oil pipelines and export terminals.