South Sudan oil exports rising despite Sudan conflict

Oil workers celebrate the resumption of crude oil pumping at the Unity oil fields in South Sudan (Reuters photo)

 

Crude exports by South Sudan have climbed to their highest level in almost two years despite an ongoing war between Sudan’s government forces and a paramilitary group that erupted in April, the authoritative energy news site OILPRICE.COM has said.

According to OILPRICE.com, crude shipments now average 154,839 barrels per day, about double March’s figure at 77,419 barrels per day.

Experts have grown increasingly worried that East Africa's oil hub will be plunged further into chaos and leave it without its main source of livelihood ever since clashes broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

South Sudan gives ~10,000 barrels of crude per day to Sudan as transportation fees because the oil has to go through Sudan to reach Port Sudan where it is loaded into cargo ships.

In effect, Sudan receives ~$20 million from South Sudan’s oil every day.

RSF has been demanding that South Sudan stop providing funds to the SAF, which might see the SAF retaliate by preventing the export of South Sudan’s oil through Port Sudan, which it controls. With the situation in a stalemate, a complete meltdown would not only destabilize the region but also potentially lead to the collapse of the volatile state.

Sudan is the latest case of a well-documented resource curse that tends to grip resource-rich nations in the poorer nations of the world.

The Government of South Sudan has not been transparent about income from crude oil which is the country's biggest export earner.  

Radio Tamazuj’s efforts to contact the South Sudanese petroleum ministry for comment were futile.