South Sudan says Khartoum to help repair damaged oilfields

(Recasts, adds quotes from the minister, updates on oilfacilities)

NAIROBI, May 24 (Reuters) - Sudan has offered to supplymaterials, engineers and electricity to South Sudan to speed upthe repair of oilfields damaged during a five month rebellionthat has cut output by a third, South Sudan's oil minister saidon Saturday.

Petroleum Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau told Reuters SouthSudan's output stood at 165,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from245,000 bpd when the fighting broke out in December, but thatproduction should increase within 45 days to three months.

At least 10,000 people have died since violence erupted inthe capital Juba and spread across oil producing regions. SouthSudan is desperate to increase production after the conflictdepleted government coffers and crippled the economy.

Dau said his counterpart in the Khartoum oil ministry hasagreed to provide support to Sudd Petroleum Operating Companyand Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC), operators of thetwo oilfields in the northern Unity State bordering Sudan.

"The two operators are coordinating and having meetings inJuba and Khartoum to assess technical support that will berequired," Dau said by telephone from Juba.

Juba and old foe Sudan, from whom South Sudan ceded in 2011,came close to a full blown war soon after independence due to adispute over oil fees. Though both sides backed down, a 14-monthoil shutdown at the time devastated both economies.

Dau added Khartoum had agreed to supply electricity from itsHeglig oil facility on the border of the two countries if theUnity state oilfields were without power, though the extent ofthe damage to the oilfields was not clear.

About 40,000 bpd was pumped at the Northern oilfields(Blocks 1,2 & 4) before clashes broke out while the Tharjiathoilfield produced 5,000 bpd. No oil has been produced at eithersite since December.

GPOC, the operator of the Northern oilfields, is owned byChina's National Petroleum Corporation, Malaysia'sPetronas and India's ONGC Videsh.

Dau said both Northern and Tharjiath oilfields are undergovernment control and production is expected to resume "within90 days" but this is not certain yet as the security situationand the extent of damage has to be evaluated by oil companies.

"Before the recent attack on Unity state capital Bentiu, wewere projecting that resumption should be in July but now afterthe recent attack we are not sure, we have to revise the actionplan that was put in place by the operators," Dau said.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Dau said all the South Sudanese oil is pumped from Paloch -the site of an oil complex and crude oil processing facility inthe north of the country near the border with Sudan, which hoststhe sole pipeline export route.

Paloch's output fell from 200,000 bpd in December to 165,000as replacement parts could not reach the oil facility, Dau said,with oil companies unable to use the White Nile River totransport spare parts on large barges due to insecurity.

"We are working to solve these challenges by gettingmaterials from Sudan," Dau said. "We expect that within 45 daysto two months, we should be able to go up to 200,000 bpd."

President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, Kiir'sformer deputy, signed a ceasefire agreement on May 9. Thoughboth sides swiftly accused each other of violations, there hasbeen no large scale fighting since then. (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic, editing by David Evans)

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