New Details about Resumption of pumping Southern Oil
Sudan Events – Agencies
An oil pipeline that was disrupted during fighting last February has been repaired and may resume work within the next two weeks, an official at the Ministry of Oil in South Sudan said.
The Petrodar pipeline, which was established by an alliance that includes China’s CNBC, Sinopec, and Malaysia’s Petronas, usually pumps about 100,000 barrels per day of crude from South Sudan, over a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers to a station on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.
Sudanese sources allied with the army blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the work stoppage, saying that the damaged pumping station in the pipeline is located in an area controlled by the RSF.
South Sudan’s Dar Blend, a waxy, low-sulphur crude, requires heating to prevent it from turning solid inside the pipeline.
William Inyak Deng, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil in South Sudan, said, “The fracture has been restored and repaired, but it has now caused some crystallization along the pipeline.” Deng added to reporters that the 13-month-long war in Sudan has hampered efforts to repair the pipeline, but oil exports will resume once the solid blocks are removed, either using hot water or diesel. Oil is a vital source of income for the government of South Sudan, as it represents 90% of its foreign exchange revenues. Sudan receives a share of the oil as transit fees. The Petrodar pipeline, one of two pipelines in Sudan, transports about two-thirds of South Sudan’s total oil exports. Observers have warned that South Sudan will face economic collapse and political turmoil unless one of the main sources of dollar oil revenues returns to work.
