January 2nd 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – Oil production has resumed on Monday at Unity Oilfields in Unity State’s Rubkona county after having been halted for more than five years following the December 2013 outbreak of the ongoing civil war in South Sudan.
In a statement issued on Monday, South Sudan’s Petroleum Minister, Amb. Ezekiel Lol Gatkouth, said he issued directive for the resumption of oil production in the country’s border state of Unity.
“Today, December 31, 2018, I authorized the informal launching of the resumption of oil production at Unity Oilfields. The Resumption of oil production started today with 5 wells from the 16 wells as phase I,” minister Lol said in the statement extended to the Nyamilepedia.
The minister revealed that the oilfield will target a production of 20, 000 barrels per day for the whole January saying the production will return to its normalcy and will produce 40,000 barrels per a day as it stood before December 2013 shutdown.
“The initial target of the oil production at phase I will be 20,000 b/d and by the end of January, the Unity Oilfields will reach its potential and capacity as before shutdown of 2013 of producing 40,000 b/d,” he said.
He said he will launch a full resumption plan on in late January saying he will invite his Sudanese counterparts Azhari Abdallah to witness the event.
“On January 21, 2019 I will be officially launching the full resumption plan in Unity Oilfields and I have invited my counterpart His Excellency Azhari A. Abdallah, Minister of Petroleum and Minerals of the Republic of Sudan to join me in this important occasion,” he further said.
Oil production in Unity State was halted in December 2013 following the outbreak of violence and later the civil war leaving oilfields remains contested by the warring parties.
South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 following a flare-up of violence at a meeting of the National Liberation Council of the ruling SPLM party at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in the capital Juba.
In September, South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace deal in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa following several months of talks in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
