South Sudan to conduct new seismic surveys to spur licensing interest

Kampala — South Sudan plans to conduct new seismic surveys to boost the oil exploration acreage on offer under a planned licensing round which has been postponed to early 2021, the head of East African country's state oil company said Aug. 19.

Seismic surveys covering 6,928 square km in northern Unity state near block 5A and in the Abeyi exploration area near the Sudanese border will be involved, Nilepet Managing Director Abel Chol told S&P Global Platts in an interview.

South Sudan's plans to launch its first oil licensing round have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The round was supposed to launch in March or April this year but the oil ministry has delayed it to early 2021. Fourteen blocks had been earmarked for the planned licensing round which could be expanded with the new seismic survey, he said.

Around 20 companies have already expressed interest in the round, Chol said, adding that Russian and Chinese companies dominate the list.

"Investor interest in South Sudan is reviving, and time is now for us to invest more in our natural resources pull this interest to the country," Chol said.

Chol did not disclose how much Nilepet was planning to spend on the seismic program which is slated to commence later this year.

Nilepet also planned to bid for an exploration block in the upcoming round and seek a private partner to help develop any oil that is discovered, he said.

South Sudan was producing around 130,000 b/d of crude in July, according to estimates by Platts, above its official OPEC+ quota of 100,000 b/d.

Chol, however, said the country's oil production was around 170,000 b/d of which 48,000 b/d is supplied to Sudan's oil refineries and rest is exported.

The country's oil output is dominated by China National Petroleum Company, Malaysia's Petronas and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. which operate South Sudan's oil-producing fields through two joint ventures.