South Sudan says in control of main oil fields in Upper Nile

South Sudan government has said it is in full control of the main oil producing areas of Upper Nile state with production remaining at 160,000 barrels per day.

This was said by petroleum minister Stephen Dau on a trip to Paloch an oil complex and processing plant near the border with Sudan which also has the export pipeline to Khartoum.

‘I’m here to assure that the government is in full control of the situation in Upper Nile and in particular the oil fields,’ he told reporters.

The oil production level is however below the 245,000 barrels recorded before fighting broke out by nearly a third.

The minister was also quick to say that foreigners and nationals were still operating in the facility including those who had been evacuated when the war started.

‘Now we have more than 400 wells running, so that means our facility is working normally, and export is normal,’ said Liang Jindong, the production facility superintendent at Paloch.

Last month the government put the total output from South Sudan at 167,000 to 168,000 barrels per day.

Earlier there had been concerns that the country was losing its oil buyers after a number of companies from Japan, India and China started sourcing for similar products elsewhere namely Angola and Chad.

Paloch in North South Sudan is 640 kilometers north of Juba and 140 km northeast of Malakal.

Three oil firms operate in South Sudan including China national Petroleum Corp, Malasyia’s Petronas and India’s ONGV Videsh.