South Sudan Seeks New Oil, and Gas, Investors
South Sudan this week holds its first conference to attract investors to its oil and gas potential. It comes as the US has lifted economic sanctions against the African nation's northern neighbour, Sudan.
Dozens of international gas and oil companies have confirmed they will attend the South Sudan Oil & Power 2017 two-day event in the country’s capital Juba, which the country’s president Salva Kiir will open October 11.
South Sudan produces some 130,000 b/d oil and has ambitious expansion plans. It is not yet a gas producer but has proven reserves of 3 trillion ft3 of gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Much of the country unexplored. This week’s event will seek to assess the technology and infrastructure needs of the country’s upstream and other sectors, as well as how to finance and develop new projects, and discuss gas monetisation.
The country's security situation will rank high on the agenda, with October 11 to feature a discussion on how firms can operate there. A civil war in Africa's youngest country continues to rage, casting a shadow on efforts to develop its natural gas potential. In 2011 the country gained independence from Sudan. But two years later, President Kiir accused his deputy of plotting a coup. This triggered armed conflict that, according to aid agencies, has claimed at least 300,000 lives and displaced millions, chiefly to neighbouring Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. Oil infrastructure is routinely targeted.
Caty Hirst, a producer at the event’s organiser Africa Oil and Power told NGW: "The first dedicated energy and infrastructure event in the nation’s history, South Sudan Oil & Power truly represents a critical moment in the development of the nation’s oil and gas sector."
International firms such as Schlumberger, Total, Tullow Oil and Nigeria’s Oranto Petroleum are sending executives to participate in the discussions. Malaysian state Petronas and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) are among the high-profile sponsors of the event.
"Security issues are not preventing new investment, and current actors in the country have said the security situation has improved in 2017," said Hirst: "For example, Oranto Petroleum entered South Sudan in March 2017 after signing an exploration production sharing agreement.” This March too, Kiir's government signed an agreement to co-operate over gas monetisation with Equatorial Guinea.
US sanctions against Sudan lifted
Meanwhile South Sudan’s northern neighbour, Sudan, has seen US sanctions lifted.
The US State Dept. announced October 6 it has decided to revoke economic sanctions following sustained positive action by the Sudanese government; the revocation will be effective October 12. It released a report detailing positive action by Khartoum over the past 16 months.
Norway and the UK issued a joint statement October 7 welcoming the US decision permanently to lift its economic sanctions on Sudan, but both – as has the US – said that “a number of challenges remain…in particular the ongoing conflicts in Darfur” and elsewhere.
Thulani Mpofu