South Sudan and Sudan have made progress towards restarting the pumping of South Sudan's crude oil through a pipeline running to a port in its neighbour, South Sudan's finance minister and the president's office said.

The South Sudan passport issuance has resumed, the Immigration said on Friday. The Director General of the Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration, Maj Gen Simon Majur Pabek, said the production would commence next week.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has agreed with the de facto leader of Sudan, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, that vital oil exports from the landlocked country could resume through its northern neighbour.

Despite its vast reserves, a South Sudan civil war and later regional conflict have severely impacted crude oil production in recent years.