S. Sudan’s oil output to reach 200,000 bpd in 2 years: official

October 9, 20019 (CAPE TOWN) – South Sudan currently produces 178,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, its production could reach 200,000 bpd in the next two years, an official said on Wednesday.

“We are working on increasing the production of oil,” Arkangelo Okwang Oler, director-general for planning, training and research at South Sudan’s oil ministry said at an oil conference in Cape Town.

Oler, Reuters reported, said South Sudan will later this month kick-start an auction of licenses to develop eight oilfields around the country.

He further said Africa’s newest nation is seeking to ensure its oil production rise to 350,000 bpd, but did not the specify time frame.

“I am optimistic that we are moving toward a stable government,” said Oler.

South Sudan, where oil revenues make up nearly 98% of the budget, has been reeling under economic crisis due to civil war.

South Sudan became the world’s youngest country after it split from Sudan in 2011.

But production was affected when civil war broke out two years after independence. A September peace deal is largely holding, but a plan to form a unity government is due on November 12.

South Sudan, official figures show, presently produces 135,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

(ST)