Juba, 4 April (Argus) — The first supplies of crude from South Sudan will reach Sudan for export by the end of May, officials from both countries said today.
South Sudan production and exports of up to 350,000 b/d have been suspended for 15 months because of a row over transport tariffs to be paid by South Sudan for its crude to be exported via Sudan's pipelines and port infrastructure.
“We would like to announce to the people of the two countries the possibility of oil flowing right from this month of April between [South Sudan] to Port Sudan by the end of May”, Machar Aciek Ader, undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining said.
"Loading of crude oil will start immediately once it arrives there. The revenue from the oil fields will start to flow into the coffers of the two countries according to the agreed upon arrangement to have each of the two countries benefit from the oil”, he said.
His northern counterpart Awad Abdul Efatah said that the oil would first come from Block 5A, operated by Sudd Petroleum. Sudd is a joint venture between Malaysia's state-controlled Petronas and South Sudan's state-owned Nilepet.
“The stage is set for this to flow smoothly to the Sudanese border and flow together with oil coming from Sudan to Port Sudan”, Efatah said.
The block usually produces 40,000 b/d “but the first batch will probably be between 10,000-12,000 b/d”, he said.
He said that "some oil is already flowing" but that it was a gradual process of turning wells on one at a time. He did not say when full production would be restored.
“This of course is a small production but … it is a very important signal that oil has actually started to flow from South Sudan. This will reach …Port Sudan at the end of May and it will be stored there in big tanks until it reaches a state that it can be loaded on a barge”, Efatah said.
Oil from Petrodar, the consortium led by China's state-controlled PetroChina, in South Sudan's Upper Nile state, should also reach processing facilities on the border "in about one month's time from now" and Port Sudan at “the end of May, beginning of June”, he said.
"It could be anywhere from 150,000-200,000 b/d", said Efatah, who is also expecting oil "from smaller fields" in neighbouring Unity state return to production.
“Hopefully, when all is done and all is back to normal working, I think we will be receiving oil from South Sudan in the range of 250,000-350,000 b/d”, he said.
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