South Sudan revamps power plant to boost oil production

JUBA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said on Friday it is renovating its 48 megawatts (MW) power plant to boost oil production at Tharjiath oil field from 14,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 45,000 bpd in the northern Unity region.

Mayen Wol Jong, undersecretary ministry of petroleum, said they are working to increase oil production from 14,000 bpd being pumped currently in Blocks 1, 2 and 4 in the Ruweng state by renovating the power plant.

"We have started now renovating the power plant and the power plant in that place (Unity) will help us pump the oil. Without power we shall not have the oil being pumped. We have also started renovating the roads within the oil fields," Jong told journalists in Juba.

Jong said they are getting 3 MW from Sudan to help pump the current output as they wait for the renovation of the power plant in Unity oil field to be able to produce 40,000 bpd.

He disclosed that the 14,000 bpd is being pumped in Ruweng region's Toma South area and that by mid-November they will be shipping the oil to marine terminal in Port Sudan.

"By the end of this year we are going to start the production in the Unity (Tharjiath) oil field that's one of the big resumption," he said.

South Sudan in September extended oil exploration and production agreements (EPSA) for six more years with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Malaysia's PETRONAS and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which operate Blocks 1, 2 and 4 and 3, 7 in Paloch and Block 5 A in Tharjiath.

"These blocks all of them together if we put them in production we will come back to where we were previously," said Jong.

South Sudan prior to outbreak of conflict in December 2013, produced some 350,000 bpd before it declined to less than 160,000 bpd due to devastation caused by war on the oil fields.

The country depends on oil production to finance about 98 percent of its fiscal expenditure despite ongoing efforts to increase its share of the non-oil revenue.

Jong said that earlier this year they were targeting producing 45,000 bpd but this has not been realized due to the need to revamp the power plant.

South Sudan has suffered from a civil war since December 2013, which led to the death of thousands and the displacement of about 4 million others.