South Sudan's Oil Pipeline Construction Will Commence Soon
14 June 2012
Juba - South Sudan may soon see commencement of implementation of an
alternative vital joint oil pipeline project with Kenya that would transport
the new nation's crude oil to the international market and revive its
staggering economy.
South Sudan shut down its oil production last January accusing its northern
neighbor, Sudan, of stealing its oil which passed through Sudan's pipelines
to its Red Sea Port.
Khartoum justified the action, arguing that the new nation which broke away
from it in July 2011 had not been paying transit fee.
The two sides have not reached an agreement on how much the transit fee
should be as Khartoum asked for $36 a barrel while Juba offered over half a
dollar per barrel, arguing that this was in accordance with the
international practice.
South Sudan has exerted efforts to build an alternative oil pipeline through
East Africa to the Indian Ocean and had recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Kenya to build the pipeline.
A leading Japanese Toyota Tsusho Corporation has reported completion of
feasibility study of the pipeline project and ready to sign contract with
the government in order to commence the construction.
The Project General Manager of the company, Yoichiro Iwasaki, on Tuesday led
a delegation to Juba and met with the South Sudan Vice President, Riek
Machar, during which the company reported on the success of the feasibility
study and readiness to enter into contract with the government.
The Vice President's Press Secretary, James Gatdet Dak, told the Sudan
Tribune that the company was ready to shoulder the financing of the project
and will work out with the ministry of Petroleum and Mining in the contract
a mechanism for repayment by the government.
Juba also plans to build another alternative pipeline through Ethiopia to
the port in Djibouti and a separate MoU was also signed with the two
concerned governments.
Related projects are also underway to build a number of refineries in South
Sudan in order to provide fuel domestically and export its surplus products
to the neighboring countries.
International oil companies assure of discovery of more oil reserves in
South Sudan and predict that the oil production may quickly reach over
500,000 barrels a day from the current 350,000 in the next few years.
The shutdown of the oil production has affected the economy of South Sudan
as it constituted 98% of the total annual revenues and was the only export
item that used to bring in hard currency to the nation.
Khartoum's economy has also suffered from the oil shutdown and shock of
losing 50% share of South Sudan's oil revenues after independence.
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Received on Thu Jun 14 2012 - 13:14:27 EDT
