South Sudan oil refinery delayed, equipment stranded in Kenya
Article
Comments (31)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebook
myspace
twitter
buzzyahoo
July 11, 2013 (BENTIU) - The opening of an oil refinery in South
Sudan’s Unity state, has been delayed from 9 July as vital equipment
is stranded at the Kenyan port of Mombassa.
JPEG - 32.9 kb
Oil mining employees walk near the first well to restart production in
the Thar Jath field in Unity state on April 6, 2013 (HANNAH
MCNEISH/AFP/Getty Images)
According to Unity state’s former governor, Taban Deng Gai, the
opening was due to coincide with the second anniversary of South
Sudan’s independence from Sudan.
The South took with it 75% of Sudan’s oil production but none of the
infrastructure needed to export or to refine its oil, for which there
is a high demand in the country.
Since independence South Sudan has been forced to import fuel from
neighbouring countries, often at a high cost.
Unity state’s deputy governor Michael Chiengjiek Geay told Sudan
Tribune on Thursday that the postponement was due to vital equipment
still not reaching the refinery.
During South Sudan’s second anniversary celebrations in Juba on
Tuesday, president Salva Kiir Mayardit said that the country’s oil
infrastructure has progressed significantly since separation from
Sudan.
The Unity state refinery will now be inaugurated in August 2013, with
the Tangrial oil refinery in the Melut area of Upper Nile state
scheduled to open in 2014, Kiir said. Unity state produces South
Sudan’s best quality petroleum but Upper Nile state is the largest
producer.
The deputy governor told Sudan Tribune that he was concerned that some
of the heavy equipment stranded in Mombasa will be difficult to
transport now the seasonal rains have started.
Geay said that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining in Juba is working
hard to complete the refinery so that South Sudan can produce its own
fuel, for national consumption.
The deputy governor said that once the purifying equipment arrives the
construction will be completed and the refinery will be up and running
within a very short time frame. It is hoped that, when complete, the
two new refineries will reduce the cost of fuel in South Sudan.
In January 2012 South Sudan stopped exporting its oil through Sudan
over a transit fee dispute. Tensions between Juba and Khartoum led to
the north closing the border for trade forcing the price of oil to
increase dramatically. Juba has been exploring the possibility of
building a new pipeline to the Kenyan or Djibouti coast.
The lack of hard currency caused by the shutdown - oil revenues
accounted for 98% of government income before the shutdown - has also
affected the young nation’s ability to import vital items such as fuel
and other commodities.
After a long impasse the two sides agreed a new oil deal in September
last year but differences over security issues and disputed border
areas, meant that oil production did not resume until May, following a
further deal signed in March.
However, Sudan’s president recently threatened to permanently stop oil
from the landlocked South Sudan crossing north Sudan’s territory,
accusing Juba of continuing to back rebel groups fighting his
government in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.
Earlier this month South Sudan’s vice president, Riek Machar visited
his Sudanese counterpart, Ali Osman Taha in Khartoum, where they
reaffirmed their commitment to the previous agreements they had
signed.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14ooWJk_Yt3HERQDJ4Z3c1_wo4Jc6MXK4CXCahM_TwTJpoQ%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
