A return to all-out war was averted after the UN Security Council threatened to impose sanctions if both countries did not call a halt to the fighting and complete negotiations on issues outstanding from the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement era within a prescribed period. Among the outstanding issues, differences over oil feature prominently. On 27 September 2012, agreements on oil and other issues were concluded, but their implementation is not certain. Thus, as in the period before Southern Sudan’s split from the North, disputes over oil continue to be the main cause of conflict and instability.
