SFF and Nilepet Offer Update on E&P Activities at South Sudan Energy Summit

South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund and South Sudan’s Nilepet have offered an update on oil exploration and production activities in South Sudan during Day 1 of SSOP 2023.

Day one of the South Sudan Oil & Power (SSOP) 2023 conference and exhibition – which is organized by Energy Capital & Power  - had presentations by South Africa’s oil reserves agency, the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), and South Sudan’s National Oil Company (NOC), Nilepet, who offered an update on exploration and production activities in the East African country through their joint venture (JV), the Nile Orange Energy Project.

Taking place in Juba on 15 June, the back-to-back presentations featured the participation of Nilepet CEO and Managing Director, Eng. Bernard A. Makeny, as well as SFF CEO, Godfrey Moagi. It was announced during the presentations that the JV is currently engaged in mapping South Sudan’s resources, primarily in Block B2, with the SFF having inaugurated a geophysical survey of the 31,000km² block on 14 June.

During his presentation, Eng. Makeny invited global investors and project developers to partner with, invest in, and help grow South Sudan’s promising energy market. With a focus on accelerating the development of the entire energy value chain, the NOC is working towards establishing new partnerships across the upstream, midstream, and downstream value chains.

“This country has a lot of potential,” Eng. Makeny stated, adding, “Nilepet, with its new leadership, is determined to go upstream. And we cannot go alone, and we are very excited to engage SFF in mapping our resources.”

Meanwhile, Moagi reiterated his commitment towards working with the Government of South Sudan to take part in the immense opportunities present in sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest oil producer, while helping South Africa alleviate its energy crisis.

The CEO stated that the Nile Orange Energy Project is currently engaged in the development of a 60,000 barrel per day refinery in South Sudan. Furthermore, it was noted that the companies are currently undergoing the environmental assessment of Block B2 to identify the sustainable development of South Sudan’s lucrative oilfields.

“There is a big opportunity here,” Moagi stated, adding, “We have been working together since 2019, when we signed our exploration and production sharing agreements. It is important that we develop our own resources, and that Africans start benefitting from their oil and gas reserves.”

Through the Nile Orange Energy Project, the Governments of South Africa and South Sudan have agreed to jointly cooperate on various potential projects within the South Sudanese oil industry. As such, the JV is currently engaged in studies to determine the technical and commercial feasibility of crude export infrastructure projects to connect South Sudan’s current and future blocks to the export market through neighboring East African countries.

June 15, 2023