SA pushes ahead with troubled South Sudan oil deal
South Africa is struggling to advance a long-standing oil refinery project in South Sudan due to severe logistical, environmental, and security challenges. The state-owned SANPC is currently seeking terrain reconnaissance to assess the feasibility of seismic surveys in the conflict-prone region.
Why it matters
The project illustrates the high risks and complexities involved in cross-border energy infrastructure development in unstable regions.
South Africa is forced to wade through a maze of conflict, fears of undetonated bombs and an unforgiving terrain to get oil from South Sudan, in a deal struck more than seven years ago by the then energy minister, Jeff Radebe.
The Sunday Times reported at the time that Radebe had rushed in when concluding the deal with the Sudanese government, which on paper looks great but in reality is a difficult transaction to execute.
The agreement was for the construction of a 60,000 barrels-per-day oil refinery in Pagak in northeastern South Sudan. South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) holds 90% of the project in B2 Block, with the remaining 10% belonging to South Sudan’s Nile Petroleum Corp.
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