South Sudan thinks out of the box for oil export options


The resumption of oil production in South Sudan has given new impetus to the country’s refining plans. Two facilities are planned for construction this year: a 5,000 b/d plant at Bentiu in Unity State, and a 10,000 b/d plant at Thangrial, in Melut county in Upper Nile State. South Sudan has no refining capacity, having relied in the past on imports of refined products from neighbouring countries such as Sudan and Uganda. The Bentiu plant is being developed by Russia’s Safinat Caspian Oil Refining Company, which signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2012 with energy minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau and Unity state governor Taban Deng Gai to build the refinery.