South Sudan delays progress in increasing crude production over floods

By Okech Francis

South Sudan is delaying progress in increasing production until the rains subside, and water levels in the oil-producing states subside, the Managing Director of the State-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation, Bol ring Mourwel said.

The country has plans to raise production to at least 270,000 barrels per day from a current 165,000 bpd, Mourwel told Juba Echo on Thursday.

“We have a routine meeting with Sudan, we want to increase the production but we will delay a bit because of the floods since we cannot bring in equipment,” Mourwel said.

Experts from Russia and America are also being engaged to help in the production increase, Mourwel said without mentioning their names.

“A team from three companies are coming and we want to test which one is the best and cost effective. We will give them wells and they have to increase it. If you increase it, we pay, if you don’t increase it, we don’t pay,” he said.

“The investors actually have experience with Sudan because we and Sudan have a similar data and our data is in Sudan.”

Heavy rains are currently pounding in the oil producing states causing floods which has affected at least 400,000 people.

Worst hit areas are oil producing Unity State and Upper Nile as well as Jonglei State.

The country which produced as much as 350,000 bpd when it got independence in 2011 is experiencing declines across all its oil fields.

“Some of the wells have become very old, 18 years or 25 years and now we have relinquished some of the wells not producing,” Mourwel said.

According to him, increasing production will involve drilling deeper into existing wells to reach deep lying crude.

“We are having some of the wells for enhancement recovery and actually I am telling you, there is potential for South Sudan to raise this production once we get technology for it,” Mourwel said.