By Gladys Kole
South Sudan oil dependent economy is bracing for the worse days ahead as the armed conflict in Sudan is mildly affecting oil exploration and exportation activities.
The country uses the Sudan oil pipeline to export its oil to the international market through Port Sudan.
Petroleum Minister, Puot Kang Chol said in a press conference yesterday, the violence in Sudan is presenting a worrying situation that should quickly be addressed.
He stated that the fighting which seems not ending soon has mildly affected the logistics and transportation of the critical materials and equipment through Port Sudan to oilfields in South Sudan.
However, despite the crisis in Sudan, Kang noted, “all our oilfields facilities such as the pipelines, pump stations, field processing facilities, field surface facilities and the export marine terminal in the Republic of Sudan are well protected and safe from any damage.”
“We continue to produce and export an average of 169, 140.81 barrels of crude oil per day from all our oil fields in the Republic of South Sudan.”
Sudan and South Sudan are both members of the Opec+alliance, with their respective oil production concentrated along the border. But while Sudan has access to the red sea to export its crude, South Sudan is landlocked, which means it relies on its neighbors’ Bayshayer terminal, around 25km south of port Sudan, to export its oil.
Tensions over a planned civilian rule in Sudan resulted into an armed conflict erupting in Sudan’s capital Khartoum between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The two Sudan military leaders disagreed over the planned integration of the 100,000 strong RSF into Sudan’s regular army, which was key condition for the deal they struck after ousting Al Bashir, according to media reports.
Sudan’s political situation has been tense since mass protests led to the ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Burhan headed the transitional military council that was supposed to usher in civilian elections. These plans where frozen when he and Hemeti staged the 2021 coup.
Earlier this month, Sudanese authorities indefinitely postponed a new agreement to handover control to a civilian government.
Thousands of residents fled from Sudan’s capital where witnesses reported bodies in the streets and embassies said more than 270 civilians had been killed in battles between the army and paramilitaries by Thursday, with no end in sight, according to AFP.