South Sudan Plans to Resume Oil Output From Dormant Blocks

(Bloomberg) -- South Sudan plans to increase crude production by using oil blocks that were halted during its civil war, according to the nation’s oil minister.

The country aims to reach 200,000 barrels a day of output this year, Minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said in an interview. Current production is about 168,000 barrels a day, he said.

“Focus number one is to resume production in blocks that have been dormant for the last five years,” Gatkuoth said. The second priority is to increase output from those areas, and the third is to encourage exploration, he said.

The country’s economy will benefit from an increase in supply and help restore confidence, Central Bank Governor Dier Tong Ngor said earlier this month. Leaders agreed last year to end five years of violence that left 400,000 people dead and displaced 4 million others.

South Sudan is concerned with the standoff in neighboring Sudan where protestors are calling for a swift handover to a civilian government in the wake of the ouster of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir. It is monitoring two pipelines that bring crude through the country to Port Sudan, though so far operations have been normal, Gatkuoth said.

Alternative pipelines have been put on hold and construction will only resume if there are new discoveries, according to the minister. The new links could run through East Africa or to Djibouti, he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Okech Francis in Juba at fokech@bloomberg.net;Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Christopher Sell, Rakteem Katakey

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