KEY POINTS
- South Sudan and Sudan are working to restart crude oil exports stopped by conflict.
- Engineers have completed the necessary technical preparations to resume oil production.
- The stoppage has worsened food prices and hunger in Sudan due to higher oil costs.
South Sudan and Sudan have made progress towards restarting the pumping of South Sudan’s crude oil through a pipeline running to a port in its neighbour, South Sudan’s finance minister Marial Dongrin Ater and the president’s office, Salva Kiir said.
The exports are a crucial source of revenue for South Sudan, and Sudan takes a cut of the oil as a transit fee.
War halts oil exports, causing economic strain
The main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export was halted in February because of damage stemming from a war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Analysts say the damage is leading to serious environmental contamination and that the stoppage has contributed to higher food prices in Sudan, where millions face extreme hunger.
“Sudanese engineers have accomplished the necessary technical preparations for the resumption of oil production,”
South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s office said in a statement released after a meeting in Juba between Kiir and Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Engineers prepare to resume crude oil production
“Engineers from South Sudan are expected to visit Sudan in the coming weeks to familiarise themselves with the readiness of the facilities to jump-start production.”
“There has been a breakthrough, and (news of) it will come to the public very soon,” South Sudan’s Finance Minister Marial Dongrin Ater said.
Burhan’s office said the two sides would develop an operational plan to restart oil flows.
According to a report by Reuters, “South Sudan’s economy has been under pressure in recent years amid communal violence, with crude oil export revenue having dwindled since a 2013-2018 civil war and more recently export disruptions due to war in neighbouring Sudan.”
Moving further, “South Sudan had been sending about 150,000 barrels per day of crude through Sudan for export, under a formula established when South Sudan gained independence from Khartoum in 2011, taking most oil production with it.”
“At its peak before the civil war, South Sudan’s crude oil production stood at 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day” the report concluded.
