South Sudan could resume oil production “as early as tomorrow” almost a year after fighting in neighbouring Sudan ruptured a key pipeline, the government said on Tuesday, AFP reported.
The landlocked country’s vital oil had been shipped to global markets from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, with Sudan taking a cut as a transit fee.
But the pipeline was damaged in February clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, dramatically denting the young nation’s economy.
After months of shutdown, South Sudan’s government said production would resume from part of a facility operated by Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC).
“The Ministry of Petroleum and partners would like to declare that the kick-off date for DPOC resumption is as early as tomorrow,” Minister of Petroleum Puot Kang Chol said at a press briefing in capital Juba.
He said the ministry was “directing DPOC… to immediately embark on the resumption without any delay.”
Peoplesmind
