KHARTOUM -- Sudan and South Sudan on Monday signed an agreement to extend an oil deal and related economic arrangements until March 2022, official SUNA news agency reported.

The agreement, signed in Khartoum, stipulates that South Sudan pays $26  for each oil barrel passing through the Sudanese pipeline operator, Petrolines for Crude Oil Ltd. which belongs to the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, and $24.1 for each oil barrel transported through Bashayer Pipeline Company which belongs to Petrodar Operating Company.

South Sudan should also supply Khartoum Refinery and Um-Dabakir Station with 28,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis, according to the agreement.

The agreement was signed by Sudanese Minister of Energy and Mining Adil Ali Ibrahim and South Sudan's Oil Minister Awou Daniel Chuang.

"The agreement represents a great step to boost the cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector through a spirit of fraternity and cooperation for the interest of the two countries," Ibrahim was quoted as saying.

The agreement would also enhance the cooperation to increase the oil production in South Sudan and establish greater economic projects for the benefit of the two countries, he added.

Chuang, for his part, expressed delight over extension of the agreement and the two countries' commitment to the oil cooperation deals.

Sudan and South Sudan first signed the oil deal in 2012 and then extended it until Dec 31, 2019.

Sudan lost two thirds of its oil revenues after the split of South Sudan in 2011, but transportation of South Sudan's oil through Sudan's pipelines provides revenues to boost Sudan's difficult economy.