The Ethiopian Petroleum Supplier Enterprise (EPSE) has announced that it has scrapped all existing contracts it had entered into with the Sudanese government over fuel imports and cancelled a US$1bn fuel import deal with the country
The Ethiopian government has also retracted its earlier statements on the matter and said "no" to oil imports from Sudan.
Addis Ababa-based economist Deteri Umani told news portal Bikyanews.com, “This is strange because all seemed very positive in the past few weeks in terms of relations between the two countries after the fuel deal announcement.”
A spokesperson for EPSE, Alemayehu Tsegaye, confirmed to the Sudan Tribune that the deal to import oil annually was now rendered null and void. Tsegaye, however, declined to disclose the reason behind the decision.
Ethiopia has been importing up to 85 per cent of its annual oil from Sudan.
