A report Sunday said that Israel had made a deal with South Sudan to purchase oil from the country, which is the newest country in Africa.

The report by several news agencies said that South Sudan’s oil minister was recently in Israel on a visit, and met top government officials, who worked out the deal with him.

The report did not mention which, if any, Israeli companies would be involved in developing the oil, nor was there any indication on how the oil would be transported to Israel. South Sudan is landlocked, and most of its oil exports go through a pipeline that ends up in Port Sudan. It’s not clear if Sudan will allow tankers bound for Israel to dock at the port.

South Sudan and Israel have been cooperating since the African country achieved independence in July 2011, but Israel and the current rulers of the country are said to have cooperated closely during the years leading up to independence, as the indigenous African peoples of South Sudan fought several civil wars with the northern, Muslim Arabs and Africans that ran the country.

Israel has rendered medical and agricultural assistance to the country, which has some of the worst health and environment problems in Africa.