South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, Hon. Awow Daniel Chuang, has announced the third edition of the South Sudan Oil & Power conference with a call to international companies and partners for new exploration, technology, and infrastructure investment in the oil and gas sector.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Africa Oil & Power on Thursday in Juba, the Minister stated that there were many opportunities for investors in South Sudan’s oil and gas industry, highlighting that the development of the refining sector was a key priority for the country.
“It is important for us to have international investors in our refining sector. We have one small refinery which is not enough for the entire consumption in the country. Therefore, when we talk about financing, it will help us attract the right investors in refining, as well as investors who are involved in upstream activities in the form of bidding rounds,” he said.
He stated that South Sudan aimed to promote transparency throughout its oil and gas sector in the form of bidding rounds – which would offer open and equal opportunities for companies and countries that were interested in investing.
“Bidding rounds will promote South Sudan’s oil and gas industry. We are doing a lot of preparatory work so that we will be able to announce bidding rounds for 2020 – a first for the country.”
The Minister, meanwhile, also stated that South Sudan was focused on addressing environmental challenges – a major concern of its citizens.
“We are going to have a comprehensive environmental audit, which needs to be done through an international tender – in line with our policy of promoting transparency,” he said.
Minister Chuang candidly discussed the county’s financial challenges, pointing out that there were serious issues that needed to be tackled, including the potential restructuring of the country’s banking system and the relationships between South Sudanese banks and their international counterparts.
“We need to address these challenges to be able to tap our resources using international funding through experts that are active in the oil and power [sector].”
He stressed that peace was a reality in South Sudan and that oil fields were the most secure places in the country, noting that South Sudan was becoming more secure and that the implementation of peace was actively in progress.
“This will help us attract more investors in the country’s upstream and downstream industries. As we do that, our banking and financial systems will improve,” he said.
Minister Awow Daniel Chuang will announce South Sudan’s 2020 oil and gas licensing round at two strategic conferences this October: Africa Oil & Power 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 9-11 and South Sudan Oil & Power (SSOP) 2019 in Juba on October 29-30. The Minister will also announce a tender for an environmental audit for the country’s producing oilfields at the SSOP conference.
