In a statement on August 19 2020, the Managing Director of Nilepet, Abel Chol, said South Sudan will be conducting new seismic surveys to increase the number of offers under the country’s planned licensing round for early 2021.

South Sudan is taking the positives out of the pandemic which has caused the postponement of the initial licensing rounds that was scheduled for March/April this year but had to be postponed due to the negative impact of COVID-19 on the global oil market and economy.

The Head of the country’s state oil company said the fourteen blocks intended to be offered during the postponed licensing round may increase with the new seismic survey.

Seismic surveys covering 6,928 kilometres in northern Unity state near block 5A and the Abeyi exploration area close to the Sudanese border will be involved.

He said the target of the round is already beginning to receive green light as about 20 companies have already expressed their interest. Chinese and Russian companies are said to be the dominants on the potential investors’ list.

In his words, “Investor interest in South Sudan is reviving, and time is now for us to invest more in our natural resources pull this interest to the country.”

The state company will also be bidding for an exploration block in the round and will partner with a private company on the development of any discovered oil. He did not disclose the amount the company was planning to spend on the seismic program which is intended in the round.

He said the daily production rate of South Sudan is around 170,000 barrels. 48,000 barrels of crude per day is supplied to the oil refineries of Sudan while the rest is exported. According to data from Platts, the country was producing around 130,000 b/d in July, an over-production of its official OPEC+ quota of 100,000 b/d.

Currently, South Sudan’s oil-producing fields are being operated through two joint ventures by China National Petroleum Company, Malaysia’s Petronas and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp.