South Sudan plans to resume pumping crude oil it hopes to export after fighting in neighbouring Sudan ruptured a key pipeline earlier this year, according to documents seen by AFP Tuesday.
The landlocked country's vital oil had been shipped to global markets from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, with Khartoum taking a cut as a transit fee.
But the pipeline was damaged in February clashes between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, dramatically denting the young nation's economy.
"The ministry of petroleum is hereby declaring the 30th December 2024 as the official kick-off date for the resumption of production operations in block three and seven," the director general for Petroleum Authority, Kon John Akot, said in a letter dated December 19.
'Final decision'
The letter to the president of Dar Petroleum Operating County (DPOC) - among the firms in a consortium running South Sudan's oilfield - requested the firm "promptly share DPOC's Production Resumption Plans".
AFP was unable to independently verify if production had restarted.
However, a DPOC letter dated December 23 and addressed to other consortium members said there were a number of issues outstanding before production could resume, saying "further discussions" were required.
"Once these issues have been satisfactorily resolved, a final decision regarding the resumption Kick-Off Date can be determined and approved," it said.
Oil reserves
South Sudan, home to roughly 12 million people, took over about three-quarters of the oil reserves from Sudan when it achieved independence in 2011.
Prior to the rupture, it produced more than 150,000 barrels of crude per day, according to the bp Statistical Review of World Energy.
Despite its oil riches , the world's youngest nation has struggled to find its footing, battling ethnic violence, chronic instability, poverty and natural disasters.
The country is currently grappling with a growing cholera outbreak in the north, where many of those fleeing violence in Sudan end up.
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