Following a recent decline in oil production by 5,000 barrels, the Minister of Petroleum South Sudan, Awow Daniel Chuang, said the country is planning to offer 14 new blocks for exploration during the upcoming licensing round.

The Ministry of Petroleum South Sudan planned to launch the licensing rounds this year but it was postponed. The erstwhile Undersecretary at the Ministry of Petroleum, Awow Daniel Chuang said, “Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced us to postpone the launch. Hopefully we can possibly launch the licensing round early next year. The pandemic has caused the delay as no-one would have been interested in the launch if we had continued with it.”

In July, the Ministry of Petroleum, South Sudan announced that production rate for 2020 was targeted at 200,000 barrels per day. The daily production already dropped to 190,000 barrels per day in January, which was before the pandemic. The effect of the global coronavirus pandemic on the oil and gas market caused production to drop to 170,000 barrels per day.

The Minister on Tuesday said that oil production had dropped from 130,000 barrels a day to the current 115,000 barrels per day in Dar block which is operated by Dar Petroleum Operating Company. He said the recent flooding in the oil-producing Upper Nile region affected production in the oil fields.

He also revealed that improved relations with Sudan have improved transportation of crude through Port Sudan. Both countries recently agreed to a draft deal to develop oil cooperation which includes the resumption of production from major oil fields.

Chuang said, “It is not easy for us to go back to the previous 300,000 BPD, we cannot do that because of the geological challenges and at the same time, we understand there is national decline because the oil reserves are limited.”

“When the oil fields are flooded they will be covered with water and we cannot produce because we cannot access the oil wells.”