Production of South Sudan's Thar Jath oil delayed for six months

November 24, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's petroleum ministry said an oil field in South Sudan's Unity region would enter production six months later than initially planned.

Oil mining employees walk near the first well to restart production in the Thar Jath field in Unity state on 6 April 2013 (HANNAH MCNEISH/AFP/Getty Images)

On 30 June, Sudanese oil minister Azhary Abdel-Gadir said that maintenance teams would arrive at Thar Jath oil fields in early July. He furthers expected that oil production would resume in less than two months and reach its full capacity before the end of this year.

However, speaking in a workshop held in Khartoum with the participation of his South Sudanese counterpart, Abdel Gadir announced the delay of oil production in Thar Jath block 5A until May 2019.

He added that the delay was related to "the safety of the entire oil installations system starting from the production area to Bashayer oil terminals on the Red Sea".

Nonetheless, the minister did not disclose the exact reason for the delay but indicated that the rehabilitation works will resume on 25 November.

The Thar Jath oilfield, which has stopped its production after the eruption of the civil war in December 2013, is expected to pump over 45,000 barrels per day.

Speaking at the closing session of an oil conference in Juba on Friday, South Sudan's oil minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said the Thar Jath fields produce only 5,000 barrels per day due to the high rate of acid in the oil.

In order to stimulate oil wells, companies inject hot solutions of hydrochloric acid before to pomp the heavy oil crude of the Thar Jath blocks. However, the high rate of acid may induce severe corrosion attack on production tubing, downhole tools and casing.

To reduce the aggressive attack of the acid, oil workers add inhibitors to the acid solution during the acidifying process but the inhibition process in such case is complicated and requires more times.

For his part, the head of the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services Salah Gosh told the workshop, which gathered representatives of foreign oil companies operating in the area, that the security situation is stable in the production areas and along the roads linking the oil fields to Heglig.

Gosh and the Abdel Gadir paid a visit to the oil field in the Unity region.

(ST)