South Sudan plans to offer 14 oil blocks to exploration companies in a licensing round by the first quarter 2020, according to oil minister Awow Daniel Chuang.

South Sudan’s oil currently comes from blocks 3,7 and blocks 1, 2 and 4 and the blocks to be offered for licensing will be A1 to A6.

The country gets almost all its revenue from oil and has boosted output, now at 180,000 barrels per day, as it struggles to rebuild its shattered economy after a five-year civil war.

Much of the landlocked East African nation’s oil infrastructure was damaged in the conflict, during which about 400,000 people were killed and more than a third of the 12 million population uprooted.

The government is keen to reach pre-war oil production levels of 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) by mid-2020.

Source: Reuters and Asharq AlAwsat

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