Following the announcement of South Sudan’s intent to resume full oil production, South Africa is set to invest $1 billion in the country’s oil sector. South Africa will be exploring several oil blocks in South Sudan as stated in a memorandum of agreement signed by the two ministers.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, 23rd November 2018, the South African minister of energy, Jeff Radebe and his South Sudanese counterpart for petroleum, Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth explained that this investment will also include the construction of a refinery.

South Africa’s Minister of Energy said the refinery to be constructed would have the capacity to produce 60,000 barrels of oil per day. This is a huge difference compared to 45,000 barrels of oil produced per day at Greater Pioneer Petroleum. “When this refinery is complete, it will have the capacity of producing 60,000 barrels of oil per day,” said Radebe.

The petroleum minister for South Sudan also added that the deal will promote cooperation in the construction of a pipeline to serve fields located in the south of the country. “It is instrumental to have a new a pipeline,” Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth said.

There is hope that the resumption of oil production will kickstart the economy of South Sudan. In an interview with Aljazeera, the people of South Sudan stated that there was a hike in the prices of goods and services, but costs have started going down since the resumption of oil production. The government is thus clamouring for help through investments in order to spring back into full production.

South Sudan is working towards boosting production by the end of the year as oil contributes to 90 percent of its GDP.