Oil begins to flow again in 14 days
KHARTOUM — South Sudan will resume the exportation of oil production within two weeks, a Sudanese official said following a series of meetings in Juba with government officials and petroleum companies.
Sudanese undersecretary general of Petroleum Ministry, Awad Abdel Fatah, agreed with South Sudanese oil deputy minister Elizabeth James Bol to resume oil production within 14 days, according to Khartoum based Al-Sudani daily newspaper.
The two officials agreed in Juba on Wednesday to meet again in the Sudanese capital within ten days to finalise the arrangements related the resumption of oil exportation through the pipeline.
The Sudanese official further said that oil operators were informed of the decision.
Last October South Sudanese oil minister Dhieu Dau announced that he ordered oil companies to restart oil production, adding the crude will reach the international markets within 3 months.
He however cautioned that technical preparations will determine the export schedule.
Sudan and South Sudan signed formally on 27 September an agreement on oil fees transportation. In accordance with the deal, Juba will pay Khartoum pay $9.10 and $11.00 per barrel respectively for the oil produced in Upper Nile and Unity states during three and a half years.
The two countries have to meet soon to resume talks over the remaining issues particularly Abyei and disputed areas on the common border. Also a joint security committee is to meet during the upcoming days to discuss troops redeployment from the buffer zone and its operationalisation.
It is not clear how many barrels will be produced per day. However, Dar Petroleum Company operating in Upper Nile state pledged following Addis Ababa deal to increase its production to 180.000 bpd.
Dar, which is a consortium including Chinese, Malaysian and South Sudanese oil companies, produce usually between 203,000 and 250,000 bpd.
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