SOUTH SUDAN – South Sudan and Egypt have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that would enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of downstream oil and gas, during the 2019 South Sudan Oil & Power Conference.
This agreement for cooperation comes a few weeks after Egyptian President Al-Sisi called upon Egyptian exploration and production companies to increase participation in African countries and urged service companies to invest in South Sudan.
Egypt boasted a strong participation at the conference, with several companies and delegations present including the EGPC, Petrojet, Petrogas, Al Khorayef, Drexel Oilfied Equipment, among others.
The cooperation agreement is a testimony to South Sudan’s growing attractiveness as an investment destination especially in the oil exploration industry.
South Sudan Oil & Power (SSOP) 2019 which was the event’s host received delegations and officials from Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, Norway, United States and South Africa.
While speaking at the event, South Sudan’s Minister for Petroleum, Daniel Awow Chuang, said that the country has been steadily increasing its oil production and was currently producing 178,000 barrels and had plans to increase out to about 250,000 barrels in the near future.
The oil rich country is already making steps towards achieving the 250,000 barrel one of them being the resumption of operations at the Sudd Petroleum Operating Company oil fields with capacity of producing 80,000 barrels a day later this year.
South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund, which signed an exploration and production sharing agreement in May 2019, also announced that it would launch an aerial surveying campaign of its block B2 in December.
During the event, South Sudan announced it would launch its first ever licensing round in the first quarter of 2020, putting up 13 onshore blocks for tender.
Numerous international exploration and production companies have already demonstrated their interest in South Sudan’s oil and gas potential.
