South Sudan has the third-largest oil reserves in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Africa’s youngest nation has 3.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, with 70 percent of its territory remaining unexplored.
The discovery of an oilfield in Upper Nile State in August proved the nation’s vast oil reserves. The new well is near the Adar oilfield in Block 3 operated by Dar Petroleum – a consortium of CNPC, Petronas, Nilepet, Sinopec, and Tri-Ocean Energy.
Petroleum Minister Awow Daniel Chuang hopes the political stability and relative peace (after September 2018-cease fire agreement) will enable the nation to explore the new and existing fields.
For instance, a civil war in 2013 led to a decline in oil production from 350,000 (2011) to less than 130000 (2014) barrels a day. The government targets 200,000 barrels/day by the end of 2019.
World Bank figures show that oil accounts for 60 percent of South Sudan’s GDP, making it the world’s most dependent nation on oil.
