Insecurity and conflict still hampering South Sudan’s oil

The country wants to push production up to pre-war levels, but chances are slim

Heavily in debt and still suffering ruinous violence, South Sudan desperately needs to lift oil production and has bright hopes to send exports to neighbouring Ethiopia. The government in Juba has even suggested that output could reach 0.5m barrels a day, the level it says it was pumping before civil war broke out in 2013. It seems unlikely. Plagued with debt, hurt by low crude prices, and still suffering through a civil conflict, South Sudan will struggle even to maintain its current output, let alone ramp it higher. Combined production from Sudan and South Sudan is thought to be around 220,000 b/d, according to IHS Markit, a consultancy. South Sudan's share is between 130,000-150,000 b/d.