Canadian-based independent oil and gas company Zenith Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Petroleum of the Republic of South Sudan for the acquisition and development of oil and gas production licenses located in the East African country.
The signing takes place hot on the heels of the South Sudan Oil & Power (SSOP) 2023 conference and exhibition, which took place in Juba from 14-16 June in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum and South Sudanese national oil company Nilepet.
Following their participation in this important forum, Zenith Energy inked the deal, thereby formalizing negotiations currently underway between the company and the Government of South Sudan.
Speaking exclusively to Energy Capital & Power during the SSOP summit, Zenith Energy CEO Andrea Cattaneo stated that, “We are always looking at countries that have space for new operators and South Sudan does. We are here because the host country, South Sudan, has stated that they want to use this conference as a crucial moment to sign deals. This is extremely encouraging and we are happy to have shown our support for the country. It is tremendously appealing to work in a country such as South Sudan. We are very proud to be help the community through revenue generation from our oil production.”
Cattaneo further added in a statement issued by Zenith Energy that, “The team and I were pleased to recently attend the 2023 edition of the South Sudan Oil & Power event in Juba. South Sudan is endowed with a prolific petroleum system and has been the focus of our attention in recent months. We believe there are potentially many commercially attractive opportunities in-country for Zenith to acquire and develop successfully.”
Boasting 3.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, South Sudan has the third-largest reserves in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, 70% of the upstream market remains untapped, opening up crucial opportunities for E&P players such as Zenith Energy. The SSOP summit provided a platform for engagement between the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Zenith Energy, laying the foundation for this important deal to be fulfilled. SSOP is where deals are made.
