South Sudan to replace oil pipelines after leakage in northern region

JUBA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said on Friday it will commence replacement of old oil pipelines after it lost about 2,000 barrels of oil in the recent oil spill in the Panakuc area of northern Ruweng state.

Daniel Awow Chuang, minister of petroleum, said the government aims to start the renovation of the aging pipelines in a bid to mitigate future oil leakage.

"We expect that the pressure in the pipeline will increase within the next few weeks. We should be able to make renovation to the pipelines so that it does not cause any burst in the future," Chuang told Xinhua in Juba.

The oil spill occurred last month in blocks 1, 2 and 4 in Ruweng. Chuang also disclosed that the oil spill is under control in the surrounding areas.

South Sudan plans to host the upcoming oil and power conference starting Oct. 29-30 in the capital which will see the launching of new tenders for companies through the open bidding process.

The oil-dependent country which relies on oil revenue to finance 98 percent of its fiscal budget, recently discovered a new oil well in the Adar area.

South Sudan is aiming to boost oil production from the current 175,000 barrels a day to 200,000 BPD by 2020.