South Sudan embarks on building Bentiu oil refinery

December 14, 2012 (JUBA) – The ministry of Petroleum and Mining of the Republic of South Sudan and a Russian giant oil company have signed a ground breaking agreement to build a Bentiu oil refinery in order to provide fuel for the new independent country.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Thursday on behalf of the government by the Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Stephen Dhieu Dau, in the presence of the Unity state governor, Taban Deng Gai, has paved the way for implementation of the project following further approval by the Council of Ministers.

South Sudan is an oil producing nation but has no oil refineries while there is high demand for fuel. It imports variety of fuel from the neighbouring countries with high costs and sometimes scarcity.

Unity state, which produces the most quality petroleum products, is the second to Upper Nile state in terms of the quantity of output.

The proposed Bentiu oil refinery is the second project of its kind to reach the level of implementation after the Tangrial oil refinery in Melut area of Upper Nile state which foundation was laid last month.

None of the two oil refinery projects is yet to take off and may take a year or two before any of them starts to produce fuel for the region.

(ST)