A unit of Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petroliam Nasional has sued South Sudan for allegedly blocking a $1.25 billion sale of its local assets and instead taking over the business, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Petronas International Corporation registered a case against the Republic of South Sudan on Aug. 23, the website of The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which is a part of the World Bank, showed.
South Sudan state-run Nile Petroleum took control of Petronas' local oilfield and assets earlier in the month, and said it was seeking international partners to both sustain operations while increasing output at the blocks.
Petronas had announced on Aug. 8 that it would exit from South Sudan after running operations in the country for around three decades.
Petronas and officials at South Sudan's petroleum ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Varun H K)