South Sudan ready to resume oil shipments through Sudan

South Sudan and Sudan have made progress toward restarting the pumping of South Sudan's crude oil through a pipeline to a port in Sudan, according to South Sudan’s finance minister and the president’s office.

The exports are a crucial source of revenue for South Sudan, with Sudan receiving a transit fee from the oil.

In March, Sudanese officials reported that the main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export had experienced stoppages since the previous month due to issues related to the conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces.

“Sudanese engineers have completed the necessary technical preparations for the resumption of oil production,” South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s office said in a statement late Monday after a meeting between Kiir and Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Juba.

“Engineers from South Sudan are expected to visit Sudan in the coming weeks to assess the readiness of the facilities and restart production.”

“There has been a breakthrough, and it will be announced to the public very soon,” South Sudan’s Finance Minister Marial Dongrin Ater told a news conference late Monday.

South Sudan’s economy has faced pressure in recent years due to communal violence. Crude oil export revenue has declined since the 2013-2018 civil war and, more recently, due to disruptions caused by the conflict in neighboring Sudan.

South Sudan had been sending about 150,000 barrels per day of crude through Sudan for export, under an agreement 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 reached 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day.

Reuters