South Sudan to halt oil production due to Sudan war

August 29, 2024 (JUBA) – South Sudan will halt oil production that flows through neighbouring Sudan due to the ongoing conflict that has further strained the country’s economy, a parliamentary official said on Tuesday.

The chairperson of the information committee of Parliament, Oliver Mori Benjamin said the Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol told lawmakers in a closed session that oil exports would only resume once the conflict in Sudan ends.

A pipeline carrying more than 60% of South Sudan’s crude oil to Port Sudan for export was damaged in February this year, compounding the current situation.

“There will be no resumption of oil until the war in Sudan subsides because our pipeline…has been blocked,” Mori explained, adding that government has sent a team to shut down the pipeline to mitigate risks.

South Sudan’s oil exports have been halted since February 6, 2024, following damage to the pipeline. Force majeure was declared on March 16 after operators of the Jabelyn-Port Sudan pipeline discovered gelling between Pump Stations 4 and 5, located in a military operation zone.

Juba’s oil production declined from an average of 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 90,000bpd in March 2024, and in the same month a major pipeline in Sudan ruptured.

This brought South Sudan’s ability to ship its crude oil through Port Sudan to international markets to a standstill, as Sudan is the only channel for crude oil exports out of landlocked South Sudan.

According to the Petroleum ministry, only 1.2 million barrels of South Sudanese oil was shipped to international markets in March, compared with 2.2 million in February, and six million in January.

South Sudan is grappling with a shortage of dollars as a result of declining revenues from oil production, its main income source, on depleted wells and ongoing conflict in the neighbouring Sudan.

(ST)