Juba Looks for Full Return in mid-2013

South Sudan is targeting mid-2013 as the estimated time it will regain full crude production. The nation could see its production rise back up to at least 300,000 bpd once damage to fields during its dispute on the border with Sudan is repaired.

The government in Juba shut down its oil output in January during the dispute over how much it should pay to Khartoum for export access to the north’s pipelines to a Red Sea port.

The formerly united countries reached an interim deal on transit fees in August that could pave the way for Juba to resume its exports, but Khartoum is still awaiting a deal to secure the disputed and volatile shared border before crude flows resume.

Ministry of Petroleum and Mining Undersecretary Macar Aciek Ader said in a Reuters report that resuming output in Upper Nile state, home to South Sudan's most productive oilfields, was possible by the end of the year, but turning on wells in the Unity state would probably take longer.

"For northern Upper Nile, it may not take long because according to the information we got from the field, not much damage has been done. Hopefully it will be by the end of the year," he said. "As for the western oil production, that is, in Unity state, there was too much damage in Heglig area, so that... may take time, up to the middle of next year."

Exact levels would depend on technical factors Ader said, but added: "One could still talk in terms of a minimum of about 300,000 bpd. Minimum."