JUBA: South Sudan’s revenue from crude oil sales has dwindled as war in neighbouring Sudan shut down a pipeline to a port there, contributing to salary delays for government officials, its finance minister said.
South Sudan had been pumping about 150,000 barrels per day of crude through Sudan for export, paying the latter a transit fee under a formula agreed when South Sudan gained independence from Khartoum in 2011, taking most oil production with it.
Earlier this week, three Sudanese officials told Reuters the main pipeline from South Sudan had been experiencing stoppages since last month due to problems linked to the war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Awow Daniel Chuong, South Sudan’s Finance and Economic Planning minister, told a news conference on Thursday that civil servants had not been paid for six months, partly as a result of a drop in oil revenue.
“The situation has been exacerbated by the situation in Sudan. As all of you know that South Sudan depends on oil and 90 percent or more of the oil is not flowing in some of the fields that are so critical for South Sudan,” he said.
On Tuesday, Boutros Magaya Ngbanagano, a lawmaker in charge of a parliament sub committee on petroleum matters, said in a letter to President Salva Kiir that should the shutdown persist, it could lead to losses of at least $100 million per month.
South Sudan, which plunged into civil war from 2013 to 2018, was already struggling to return production to prewar levels of 350,000 to 400,000 bpd.
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