South Sudan’s Minister of Petroleum, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, has announced that the country is targeting an increase in crude oil production of 70,000 bpd by June 2019.
The country will resume oil production at the El-Nar, El-Toor and Manga oilfields by April 27.
Making this decision following a tour of the oilfields this past weekend, alongside Sudan’s Minister of Oil and Gas, Ishag Adam Bashir Gamaa, Minister Gatkuoth encouraged the China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation to fast-track the rehabilitation process at the El-Nar and El-Toor fields in order to meet the deadline.
Having set a goal to increase its oil production to 270,000 bpd by the end of 2019, this new target will see the country’s current output rise from 160,000 bpd to 230,000 bpd in the second quarter of the year.
If realized, this production boost will see the country well on its way to returning to its pre-war production levels of 350,000 bpd by the middle of 2020.
“With 3.5 billion (barrels of) proven reserves and only 30 percent explored there is more to offer to serious investors,” the minister said.
