South Sudan is preparing to restart crude oil production, aiming to export it after a key pipeline was damaged earlier this year due to fighting in Sudan. The country’s oil, critical to its economy, had been transported through Port Sudan on the Red Sea, with transit fees collected by Khartoum.
But the pipeline was damaged in February clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, dramatically denting the young nation’s economy.
“The ministry of petroleum is hereby declaring the 30th of December 2024 as the official kick-off date for the resumption of production operations in blocks three and seven,” the director general for the Petroleum Authority, Kon John Akot, said in a letter dated December 19.
The letter to the president of Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC) — among the firms in a consortium running South Sudan’s oilfield—requested the firm “promptly share DPOC’s Production Resumption Plans.”.
AFP was unable to independently verify if production had restarted.
However, a DPOC letter dated December 23 and addressed to other consortium members said there were a number of issues outstanding before production could resume, saying “further discussions” were required.
“Once these issues have been satisfactorily resolved, a final decision regarding the resumption kick-off date can be determined and approved,” it said.
South Sudan, home to roughly 12 million people, took over about three-quarters of the oil reserves from Sudan when it achieved independence in 2011.
Prior to the rupture, it produced more than 150,000 barrels of crude per day, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
The world’s youngest nation, despite its oil wealth, has faced ongoing challenges, including ethnic violence, chronic instability, poverty, and natural disasters. The country is actively battling a worsening cholera outbreak in the north, where many fleeing violence in Sudan have sought refuge.
