South Sudan targets 360,000 b/d

OREANDA-NEWS. October 07, 2016. The government of South Sudan is targeting production of 360,000 b/d "in the next one to two years", a senior official told Argus.

Director of mining at the ministry of petroleum and mining Arkangelo Okwang Oler said some 165,000 b/d is currently being produced from fields in the Upper Nile region and that there are plans to resume output from fields in Unity state. He said authorisation had been given to advertise for contractors to refurbish damaged oil pumps and the advertisements would be published before the end of the year. The current output level is no higher than that achieved in May, suggesting earlier hopes of reaching 200,000 b/d by the end of this year may be dashed.

The official earlier confirmed that South Sudan remains interested in the possibility of exporting crude through the proposed Uganda-Tanzania export pipeline, removing its current total dependence on Sudanese pipeline and terminal infrastructure for exports.In August, Sudan and South Sudan extended an agreement that allows Juba to export its crude through the north. But key issues, notably the transit fees Juba pays Khartoum, remained unresolved. Juba pays \\$24.10/bl to use the Petrodar pipeline, which includes a \\$15/bl charge that goes towards repaying debt.

South Sudan produced as much as 350,000 b/d after it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but output has been constrained since internal conflict broke out in December 2013 between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and those who backed his former deputy turned rebel leader, Riek Machar.