Oil pumping has resumed from South Sudan’s Toma South oilfield, Sudan’s Minister of Oil and Gas Azhari Abdel-Gadir said on Sunday, after production there stopped in 2013 due to the civil war. Speaking at a press conference in Khartoum, Abdel-Gadir revealed that Toma South would pump 20,000 barrels per day (bpd), following the progress achieved in the political negotiations between parties in South Sudan. He added that Sudanese engineers managed to repair the oilfield and resume production one week ahead of schedule, pointing to the positive economic impact of this move on both countries. The Sudanese minister expected production at five other oilfields to reach 80,000 bpd following the completion of maintenance work by the end of the year. South Sudan uses Sudanese oil facilities to export its production to Port Sudan on the Red Sea for a fee to be paid to Khartoum. Conflict parties in South Sudan signed on August 6 a final power-sharing agreement in Khartoum. South Sudans President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar entered into dispute, which soon turned into civil war after the former accused the latter of plotting a coup. The war caused a drop in oil production in the country, which gained its independence from Sudan in 2011, and fell from 350,000 bpd to about 130,000. This resulted in economic difficulties in both countries, causing the depreciation of the currency and increased inflation rate. The inflation rate in Sudan this month reached about 64 percent, revealed official reports.