South Sudan resumes the pumping of some 20,00 barrels per day of crude from the Toma south oil field, where production came to a halt since 2013, says Sudan’s oil minister Azhari Abdulqadar on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in Khartoum, the honorable minister emphasized that production of crude at five oil fields which were previously suspended was expected to reach 80,000 barrels per day as soon as maintenance work is finished by the year’s end.
Oil produce from South Sudan is at 130,000 bpd, far below the expectation of 210,000 bpd which is estimated to reach that target by the end of the year.
Many of the country’s oil infrastructure was destroyed throughout the period of civil war. The recently signed peace deal between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar has raised prospects and brought back hope for the country to return to full-scale production once more.
Crude extracted from South Sudan’s oil fields is shipped through pipelines in neighbouring Sudan to the international markets.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
